What are string literals in C#?

String literals in C# are constant string values enclosed in double quotes "" or prefixed with @"" for verbatim strings. A string literal contains characters that can include plain text, escape sequences, and Unicode characters.

Types of String Literals

C# supports several types of string literals −

• Regular String Literals: Enclosed in double quotes with escape sequences

• Verbatim String Literals: Prefixed with @ symbol, allowing multi-line strings and literal backslashes

• Raw String Literals: (C# 11+) Use triple quotes """ for complex strings

Syntax

Following are the different syntaxes for string literals −

string regularString = "Hello World";
string verbatimString = @"C:\Users\Name\Documents";
string multiLineString = @"Line 1
Line 2
Line 3";

Regular String Literals

Regular string literals use escape sequences for special characters −

Example

using System;

class Program {
    static void Main(string[] args) {
        string greeting = "Hello, World!";
        string withEscape = "She said, "Welcome to C#"";
        string newLine = "First Line\nSecond Line";
        string tab = "Name:\tJohn";
        
        Console.WriteLine(greeting);
        Console.WriteLine(withEscape);
        Console.WriteLine(newLine);
        Console.WriteLine(tab);
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

Hello, World!
She said, "Welcome to C#"
First Line
Second Line
Name:	John

Verbatim String Literals

Verbatim strings are prefixed with @ and treat backslashes as literal characters, making them ideal for file paths and multi-line strings −

Example

using System;

class Program {
    static void Main(string[] args) {
        string filePath = @"C:\Users\Documents\file.txt";
        string multiLine = @"Welcome to C#,
Hope you are doing great!
Happy coding!";
        string withQuotes = @"He said, ""Hello there!""";
        
        Console.WriteLine("File Path: " + filePath);
        Console.WriteLine(multiLine);
        Console.WriteLine(withQuotes);
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

File Path: C:\Users\Documents\file.txt
Welcome to C#,
Hope you are doing great!
Happy coding!
He said, "Hello there!"

Common Escape Sequences

String Literals vs Variables

Example

using System;

class Program {
    static void Main(string[] args) {
        // String literals
        Console.WriteLine("This is a string literal");
        Console.WriteLine(@"Verbatim string literal");
        
        // String variables
        string message = "Hello";
        string name = "Alice";
        string combined = message + ", " + name + "!";
        
        Console.WriteLine(combined);
        
        // String interpolation with literals
        Console.WriteLine($"Welcome, {name}!");
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

This is a string literal
Verbatim string literal
Hello, Alice!
Welcome, Alice!

Conclusion

String literals in C# provide flexible ways to define constant string values using regular quotes for simple strings, verbatim strings with @ for paths and multi-line content, and various escape sequences for special characters. Understanding these different formats helps write cleaner and more readable code.