Raw strings treat backslashes (`\`) as a literal character. In a normal string, a backslash acts as an escape character that can be used for various purposes.

# The escape character
Here is an example of `\n` starting a new line and `\t` adding a tab in between the string:

void main(){
  String str1 = "First line \nSecond line";
  print(str1);

  String str2 = "First line \tSecond line";
  print(str2);
}

If `str1` and `str2` were raw strings, `\n` and `\t` would be treated as literal characters.

# The literal character
In Dart, a raw string can be created by prepending an `r` to a string:



void main(){
  String str1 = r'First line \nSecond line';
  print(str1);

  String str2 = r'First line \tSecond line';
  print(str2);

  print(r'\'); // Single backslash
}

The single backslash in **line 8** cannot be printed without `r`. If it is, the backslash will be treated as an escape character.

In conclusion, the raw string type can be used whenever an actual backslash is required within a string.

An alternative way to obtain a backslash within a string is to write two backslashes​ instead of one. The first backslash will act as an escape character for the second one:

void main(){
  String str = 'First line \\nSecond line';
  print(str);

  print('\\'); // Single backslash
}

How to create a raw string in Dart

Raw strings in Dart treat backslashes literally. Prepend with 'r' to print backslashes as characters.