Question

The backslash is itself a meta-character. Suppose that you want to match a string that contains a backslash character. How do you suppose you would represent the backslash in the regular expression?

Short answer

To represent a backslash in a regular expression, it should be written as '\\'.

Step-by-step solution

Understanding the nature of a backslash in regex

It's important to note that the backslash is a special character in regular expressions. Being a meta-character, it has special uses such as initiating escape sequences. So, to represent a backslash in a string using regular expression, it can't just be placed directly in the expression.

Representing the backslash

A backslash can be represented in a regular expression by using a double backslash, i.e., '\\'. The first backslash acts as an escape character for the second backslash, yielding a single backslash in the resulting string.

Confirming the solution

To verify, one could use this form in a regular expression and test it on a string that contains a backslash. The expression should match any instances of a single backslash in the tested string.