JavaScript provides special characters that allow you to include in strings some characters you can't type directly. Each of these characters begins with a backslash. The backslash is an escape character you use to inform the JavaScript interpreter that the next character is special.

Notice that because the backslash itself is used as the escape character, you cannot directly type one in your script. If you want to write a backslash, you must type two of them together ( \\ ).

aString = "The class of \'97";
aPath = "c:\\myweb\\myhome.aspx";

You can use these escape sequences to control formatting of text inside <PRE> and <XMP> tags and, to some extent, inside alert, prompt, and confirm message boxes.

Some relevant references:

• Netscape JavaScript Documentation
• Microsoft Jscript Documentation