Eight backslashes required to replace single backslash with double backslashes?

Question

This is a \"what the heck is going on here\" question. I don\'t actually need a solution.

I had to replace all single backslashes in a String with double backslashe

Answer 1

According to Java reference material, the replaceAll method interprets backslashes in the replacement string as escape characters too. They could be used to escape the dollar sign character, which could refer to matched expressions to re-use in the replacement string. so naturally, if you want to double the number of backslashes, and both parameters treat backslash as an escape character, you need twice as many backslashes in the replacement string.