When and Why to Use Backslashes to Escape Newlines?

Escaping Newlines with Backslashes for Code Readability

Just found a module import construct in a Python code that utilizes a backslash at the end of a line:

from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base,\
      AbstractConcreteBase

This technique of escaping the newline allows for code readability by splitting a single line into multiple lines without incurring any side effects.

For instance, in the above example, the import statement spans two lines due to the backslash. However, the following code snippet is equivalent:

from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base, AbstractConcreteBase

While both accomplish the same task, the intentional use of the backslash enhances code readability by breaking the long import statement into more manageable chunks.

Alternatively, you can achieve a similar effect using parentheses:

from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import (declarative_base,
      AbstractConcreteBase)

However, it's important to note that the following construct will result in a syntax error:

from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base,\
      AbstractConcreteBase

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