Why are Backslashes Doubled When Displaying Python Strings?

Why Backslashes Appear Twice

When storing strings with backslashes in Python, you may notice that they appear doubled. This occurs when using the __repr__() method to retrieve the string's representation. By employing print() instead, you'll observe that the backslashes remain single, as intended:

>>> my_string = "why\does\it\happen?"
>>> my_string
'why\does\it\happen?'

>>> print(my_string)
why\does\it\happen?

Despite the displayed doubling in the representation, the string itself contains only single backslashes, as demonstrated by its length:

>>> 'a\b'
'a\b'
>>> len('a\b')
3

To retrieve the standard representation of a string, utilize the repr() function:

>>> print(repr(my_string))
'why\does\it\happen?'

Python depicts backslashes as within strings because the backslash acts as an escape character. For instance, n signifies a newline, and t represents a tab. However, this can result in unintended behavior:

>>> print("this\text\is\not\what\it\seems")
this    ext\is
ot\what\it\seems

To specify the literal appearance of a backslash, double it:

>>> print("this\text\is\what\you\need")
this\text\is\what\you\need

In conclusion, when retrieving a string's representation, Python escapes all backslashes for safety purposes. Nonetheless, the actual string holds only single backslashes. For more information on Python's string literals, refer to the official documentation.

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