Escape character

In computing and telecommunication, an escape character is a character which invokes an alternative interpretation on subsequent characters in a character sequence.

An escape character is a particular case of metacharacters.

Generally, the judgement of whether something is an escape character or not depends on context.

See also

• Escape sequences in C
• Leaning toothpick syndrome
• Metacharacter
• Stropping (syntax) – in some conventions a leading character (such as an apostrophe) functions as an escape character

Not to be confused with

• Escape sequence - used for communication between devices
• Esc key on a keyboard

External links

• Escape character @ Wikipedia