Message137158
Why it works is due to a quirk in the handling of python strings: if an apparent escape sequence doesn't "mean anything", it is retained verbatim, including the '\' character. This is documented in http://docs.python.org/reference/lexical_analysis.html#string-literals:
"Unlike Standard C, all unrecognized escape sequences are left in the string unchanged, i.e., the backslash is left in the string. (This behavior is useful when debugging: if an escape sequence is mistyped, the resulting output is more easily recognized as broken.)"
It is *very* unwise to depend on this behavior for anything except debugging, therefore those examples which do are, in my opinion, wrong. |
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Date |
User |
Action |
Args |
2011-05-28 22:27:27 | r.david.murray | set | recipients:
+ r.david.murray, terry.reedy, ezio.melotti, docs@python, Seth.Troisi |
2011-05-28 22:27:27 | r.david.murray | set | messageid: <1306621647.79.0.975921378931.issue12162@psf.upfronthosting.co.za> |
2011-05-28 22:27:27 | r.david.murray | link | issue12162 messages |
2011-05-28 22:27:26 | r.david.murray | create | |
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