Forward Slash Backslash

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There's a whole lot of slashing going on, but which way is which?

Let's get things straight...err, slashed, rather.

Forward slash is /, and backslash is \. Remember that the name tells me in which direction the top of the slash points.

Forward slashes tell your computer you're looking for something external to your system, like web pages.

Backslashes tell your computer you're looking for something inside your system, like a drive or a file.

~Andrew

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#1 : Correction Click to expand / collapse: The direction it points is a good tip for remembering which is which, however the bit about internal/external systems isn't quite right. Windows uses backslashes to separate directory names, and Unix-like operating systems utilise forward slashes to separate directory names. So, for many people backslashes will point to local data, and forward slashes will be used exclusively for external data, there are people who run a Unix-like OS, and for them, a forward slash will be used for local data. And if you connect to a remote machine running Windows, then back slashes will be used in that external data. Written By: Tom

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