Print a String with the Special Characters in Python

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# Print a string with the special characters in Python

Use the repr() function to print a string with the special characters, e.g. print(repr(my_str)).

The repr() function returns a string containing a printable representation of the provided object.

main.py

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my_str = 'bobby\nhadz\ncom\n'
print(repr(my_str))  # 👉️ 'bobby\nhadz\ncom\n'

print string with special characters

The code for this article is available on GitHub

We used the repr() function to print a string with the special characters.

The repr() function returns a printable representation of the provided object rather than the string itself.

# Print a string with the special characters using encode() and decode()

Alternatively, you can use the str.encode() and bytes.decode() methods to convert the string to a raw string before printing.

main.py

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my_str = 'bobby\nhadz\ncom\n'

result = my_str.encode('unicode_escape')
print(result)  # 👉️ b'bobby\\nhadz\\ncom\\n'

result = my_str.encode('unicode_escape').decode()
print(result)  # 👉️ bobby\nhadz\ncom\n

print string with special characters using encode and decode

The code for this article is available on GitHub

The str.encode() method returns an encoded version of the string as a bytes object.

We used the unicode_escape encoding to escape the special characters with an extra backslash.

The bytes.decode() method returns a string decoded from the given bytes. The default encoding is utf-8.

Encoding is the process of converting a string to a bytes object and decoding is the process of converting a bytes object to a string.

# Print a string with the special characters using a raw string

If you have access to the variable's declaration, you can prefix the string with r to mark it as a raw string.

main.py

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my_str = r'bobby\nhadz\ncom\n'
print(my_str)  # 👉️ bobby\nhadz\ncom\n

print string with special characters using raw string

The code for this article is available on GitHub

Strings that are prefixed with r are called raw strings and treat backslashes as literal characters.

If you need to use variables in the raw string, use a formatted string literal.

main.py

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variable = 'hadz'
my_str = fr'bobby\n{variable}\ncom\n'
print(my_str)  # 👉️ bobby\nhadz\ncom\n

Formatted string literals (f-strings) let us include expressions inside of a string by prefixing the string with f.

Make sure to wrap expressions in curly braces - {expression}.

Notice that we prefixed the string with fr and not just with f or r.

The start of an expression in an f-string is marked using curly braces.

If you need to include the literal characters in the string, use two sets of curly braces.

main.py

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variable = 'hadz'

my_str = fr'{{->}}bobby\n{variable}\ncom\n'
print(my_str)  # 👉️ {->}bobby\nhadz\ncom\n

# Print a backslash in Python

If you need to print a backslash:

Use a second backslash character to escape each backslash in the string.
Use the print() function to print the result.

main.py

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my_str = 'Bobby\\Hadz\\Com'
print(my_str)  # 👉️ Bobby\Hadz\Com

print backslash in python

The code for this article is available on GitHub

The example uses a second backslash to escape each backslash character in the string.

The backslash \ character has a special meaning in Python - it is used as an escape character (e.g. \n or \t).

By adding a second backslash, we treat the \ as a literal character.

main.py

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my_str = 'Bobby\\Hadz\\Com'
print(my_str)  # 👉️ Bobby\Hadz\Com

If you need to print two backslash characters next to one another, use four backslashes.

main.py

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my_str = 'Bobby\\\\Hadz\\\\Com'
print(my_str)  # 👉️ Bobby\\Hadz\\Com

# Print a backslash using a raw string

Alternatively, you can use a raw string.

When a string is prefixed with r, it treats backslashes as literal characters and escaping them is not necessary.

main.py

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my_str = r'Bobby\Hadz\Com'
print(my_str)  # 👉️ Bobby\Hadz\Com


my_str = r'Bobby\\Hadz\\Com'
print(my_str)  # 👉️ Bobby\\Hadz\\Com

print backslash using raw string

The code for this article is available on GitHub

Strings that are prefixed with r are called raw strings and treat backslashes as literal characters.

There is no need to escape backslash characters when using a raw string.

If you need to interpolate variables in a raw string, use a formatted string literal.

main.py

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variable = 'Hadz'

my_str = fr'Bobby\{variable}\Com'
print(my_str)  # 👉️ Bobby\Hadz\Com

Formatted string literals (f-strings) let us include expressions inside of a string by prefixing the string with f.

Make sure to wrap expressions in curly braces - {expression}.

Notice that the string is prefixed with fr and not just with f.

If you are constructing a path, e.g. to a directory or a file, you can use forward slashes instead of backslashes.

main.py

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file_name = 'C:/Users/Bobby/Desktop/example.txt'

# 👇️ C:/Users/Bobby/Desktop/example.txt
print(file_name)

A forward slash can be used in place of a backslash when you need to specify a path.

Backslash characters have a special meaning in Python, so to treat them as literal characters, we have to:

escape each backslash with a second backslash
prefix the string with r to mark it as a raw string
use forward slashes in place of backslashes in a path

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Print a String with the Special Characters in Python

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