Why Does Python Show Doubled Backslashes in String Representations?

Doubled Backslashes in Python Representations

In Python, when you create a string containing backslashes, you may notice that they appear doubled. This behavior arises from the __repr__() method, which generates a representation of the string for debugging purposes.

However, the actual string, accessible through the print() function, contains single backslashes as intended:

my_string = "why\does\it\happen?"
print(my_string)  # Outputs: why\does\it\happen?

This duplication is due to the role of backslashes as escape characters in Python. For example, n represents a newline, and t represents a tab. To prevent ambiguity, Python escapes backslashes by adding an additional backslash, resulting in .

print("this\text\is\not\what\it\seems")  # Outputs strange escapes
print("this\text\is\what\you\need")  # Preserves the literal backslashes

When the Python interpreter returns a string's representation, it takes no chances and escapes all backslashes, regardless of whether they would otherwise cause any issues. However, the actual string remains intact with single backslashes.

For more in-depth information on Python's handling of string literals, refer to the String and Bytes literals documentation, available here: [String and Bytes literals](https://docs.python.org/3/reference/lexical_analysis.html#string-and-bytes-literals)

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