Editing Escape sequence (section)

===In detail===
{{see|String literal#Escape sequences}}
{{see also|Escape sequences in C}}
A common use of escape sequences is in fact to remove control characters found in a binary data stream so that they will not cause their control function by mistake. In this case, the control character is replaced by a defined "escape character" (which need not be the US-ASCII escape character) and one or more other characters; after exiting the context where the control character would have caused an action, the sequence is recognized and replaced by the removed character.<ref name="CMD.a"/> To transmit the "escape character" itself, two copies are sent.<ref name="IEY"/>

In many [[programming language]]s and command line interfaces escape sequences are used in [[character literal]]s and [[string literal]]s, to express characters which are not printable or clash with the syntax of characters or strings. For example, [[control characters]] themselves might not be allowed to be placed in the program coded by the editor program, or may have undesirable side-effects if typed into a command. The end-of-quote character is also a problem for programmers that can be solved by escaping it. In most contexts the escape character is the [[backslash]] ("'''\'''").