replace "\" with "" in java

Question

my question is quite simple:

how to replace "\" with "" ???

I tried this:

str.replaceAll("\\", "");

but I get en exception

08-04 01:14:50.146: I/LOG(7091): java.util.regex.PatternSyntaxException: Syntax error U_REGEX_BAD_ESCAPE_SEQUENCE near index 1:

Answer 1

It's simpler if you don't use replaceAll (which takes a regex) for this - just use replace (which takes a plain string). Don't use the regular expression form unless you really need regexes. It just makes things more complicated.

Don't forget that just calling replace or replaceAll is pointless as strings are immutable - you need to use the return result:

String replaced = str.replace("\\", "");

Answer 2

\\ is \ after string escaping, which is also an escape character in regex try

String newStr = str.replaceAll("\\\\", "");

(don't forget to assign the result)

Also, if you use some string as an input where a regular expression is expected, it is safer IMO to use Pattern#quote:

String newStr = str.replaceAll(Pattern.quote("\\"), "");