backslash count in raw string interpolation in scala

Question

I am using Scala 3.3.7.
When I do

val str1 = raw"\\\" // compile error: unclosed string literal

It is considering the \" as a single character. But when I do

val str1 = raw"\\\\" // compiles

Why does it work when we have even number of backslashes but not odd?

Guru Stron · Accepted Answer · 2025-11-26 18:38:25Z

5

Enclosing it in triple quotes (multiline) works:

val s = raw"""\\\"""

https://scastie.scala-lang.org/z3YT2nwiTdua7avCIn5YmA

Here is PR which seems to be related to the issue:

\" no longer closes single-quoted interpolated string literals.
The escape sequence is not processed by the scanner.

It seems that this part of the spec is "responsible":

interpolatedString ::= alphaid ‘"’ {[‘\’] interpolatedStringPart | ‘\\’ | ‘\"’} ‘"’
...
Note that the sequence " does not close a normal string literal (enclosed in single quotes).

i.e. \" is treated like two characters - | and " of the literal itself, hence:

val s = raw"\"" // represents \" string

works - https://scastie.scala-lang.org/TM5YTOHfQD2Pel6fHjgjOA

edited Nov 26 at 18:38

answered Nov 25 at 17:33

Guru Stron

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