---
id: c-strings-esc
title: "C Special Characters"
category: "Programming_Language"
status: "draft"
verification_status: "conceptual"
canonical_id: ""
aliases: ["escape characters", "backslash escape", "C 이스케이프 문자"]
duplicate_of: ""
source_trust_level: "B"
confidence_score: 0.84
created_at: 2026-07-04
updated_at: 2026-07-04
review_reason: ""
merge_history: []
tags: ["c", "programming-language", "w3schools", "strings", "escape-characters"]
raw_sources: ["https://www.w3schools.com/c/c_strings_esc.php"]
applied_in: []
github_commit: ""
---

# [[C Special Characters]]

## 🎯 한 줄 통찰 (One-line insight)
A literal double-quote inside a double-quoted string is fundamentally AMBIGUOUS to the compiler — `"We are the so-called "Vikings" from the north."` looks like three separate adjacent strings, not one string containing quotes — so `\"` isn't just a stylistic escape, it's the only way to disambiguate where the enclosing string actually ends. [S1]

## 🧠 핵심 개념 (Core concepts)
- **The core problem** — double quotes delimit C strings, so a literal `"` inside one prematurely ends the string as far as the compiler is concerned. [S1]
- **Core escape sequences** — `\'` (single quote), `\"` (double quote), `\\` (literal backslash). [S1]
- **Other common escapes** — `\n` (newline), `\t` (tab), `\0` (null terminator). [S1]
- **Backslash as the universal escape prefix** — turns the following character into a literal string character rather than a syntactic delimiter. [S1]

## 📖 세부 내용 (Details)
- Escaping double quotes inside a string: `char txt[] = "We are the so-called \"Vikings\" from the north.";`. [S1]
- Escaping a single quote: `char txt[] = "It\'s alright.";`. [S1]
- Escaping a literal backslash: `char txt[] = "The character \\ is called backslash.";`. [S1]

## ⚖️ 모순 및 업데이트 (Contradictions & updates)
- 현재까지 발견된 모순 사항 없음 (No contradictions found in available sources).

## 🛠️ 적용 사례 (Applied in summary)
현재 발견된 실제 적용 사례가 없습니다 — 큰따옴표가 포함된 인용문(예: "Vikings")을 문자열에 그대로 담아야 할 때 \" 이스케이프가 실전에서 바로 쓰인다. [S1]

## 💻 코드 패턴 (Code patterns)
Escaping a literal double quote so it doesn't prematurely end the string (C):
```c
char txt[] = "We are the so-called \"Vikings\" from the north.";
```

## ✅ 검증 상태 및 신뢰도
- **상태:** draft
- **검증 단계:** conceptual
- **출처 신뢰도:** B (W3Schools — widely used educational reference, not a primary standards body)
- **신뢰 점수:** 0.84
- **중복 검사 결과:** 신규 생성 (New discovery)

## 🔗 지식 그래프 (Knowledge Graph)
- **상위/루트:** [[C Tutorial]]
- **관련 개념:** [[C Strings]], [[C Strings Functions]]
- **참조 맥락:** 이스케이프 문자 — 문자열 함수(Strings Functions) 챕터로 이어짐.

## 📚 출처 (Sources)
- [S1] W3Schools — C Special Characters — https://www.w3schools.com/c/c_strings_esc.php

## 📝 변경 이력 (Change history)
- 2026-07-04: Initial draft synthesized from the W3Schools "C Special Characters" page (Astra wiki-curation, P-Reinforce v3.1 format).
