Simple Steps to Type a Bunny with Your Keyboard

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posted on 13 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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You've discovered that the double quote symbol " will not work inside a Java print instruction. You'll need to find an alternate way to tell the compiler to print this symbol, instead of interpreting it as instructions to close the string. The escape character is the most straightforward way to do this. While there's no need to learn the ASCII code in this case, it's another handy option to know for symbols that do not have an escape sequence.

Things You Should Know

The easiest way to signal a quotation mark in Java is to use the backslash key.
Surround the text you want to print with quotation marks in backslashes.
Alternatively, use "char(34)" to represent quotation marks.

Using an Escape Character

Type the escape character \. As you know, the double quote symbol " has a special meaning in Java (displaying text). Whenever you want to ignore one of these meanings, use the escape character \ (backslash). This character tells the compiler that the next character is part of an alternate instruction. Make sure you are hitting the backslash key, not the forward slash. The backslash key is next to the } key on most English keyboards.

Type \" to display the double quote. These two characters together are called an escape sequence. Each escape sequence has a special meaning. In this case, \" just means "insert a double quote symbol here,", without interpreting it as the beginning or end of text. You will need to use this sequence for each individual double quote you want to display.

Continue your code as usual. The escape sequence does not affect the rest of your code. There is no need to type anything else to return to normal programming.

Remember to insert ordinary Java quotes as needed. One common mistake is to leave out the plain old " mark in your program. Remember that \" is just for display, and does not remove the need to encase your display text in quotation marks. Here's an example: 1. The string for displaying "Hello" is \"Hello\" 2. To instruct the compiler to print this text, we wrap it in quotes: "\"Hello\"". 3. Here's what this looks like in a complete line of code: System.out.println("\"Hello\"");

Using ASCII Code

Use char(34) to represent double quotes. Java can easily represent ASCII symbols using the char type. 34 is the ASCII code for the " symbol, so write char(34) to display " without using its special meaning. You can look up a symbol's ASCII code by searching for an ASCII code table online.

Place this code outside of the print string. If you make the mistake of putting this code inside the string, your program will print it exactly as it appears in your program: char(34). Here's the proper method of displaying "Hello" (with the quotation marks) using this method: System.out.println((char)34+"Hello"+(char)34);