PHP Escape Characters

When you need to include characters in a string that are otherwise illegal, you can use an escape character.

An escape character is a backslash \ followed by the character you wish to include.

Example: Including Double Quotes in a String

Consider a situation where you want to include double quotes inside a string that is itself surrounded by double quotes:

$sentence = "This is a famous line from the '80s movie, \"Back to the Future.\"";

$sentence = "This is a famous line from the '80s movie, \"Back to the Future.\"";

Common Escape Characters

Here are some common escape characters used in PHP:

Basic Example

To include a double quote in a string:

$quote = "The mechanic said, \"Your Harley is ready.\"";
echo $quote;

$quote = "The mechanic said, \"Your Harley is ready.\"";

echo $quote;

Single Quotes

To include a single quote in a string:

$announcement = 'We\'ll meet at the cafe at 5 o\'clock.';
echo $announcement;

$announcement = 'We\'ll meet at the cafe at 5 o\'clock.';

echo $announcement;