What does the .\ operator mean in Python?

Question

I am studying TensorFlow through this github repository

https://github.com/deeplearningzerotoall/TensorFlow/blob/master/tf_2.x/lab-10-1-1-mnist_nn_softmax.ipynb

and I don't understand what .\ means here:

train_dataset = tf.data.Dataset.from_tensor_slices((train_x, train_y)).\
    shuffle(buffer_size=100000).\
    prefetch(buffer_size=batch_size).\
    batch(batch_size, drop_remainder=True)

.\ isn't an operator; as others have explained, \ is used to *continue* to the next line. In this example, it just happens that each line to be continued ended with a `.`. — Scott Hunter, Mar 03 '20 at 15:46
Please see also how a code like this should have been formatted: https://stackoverflow.com/a/8683240/5378816 — VPfB, Mar 03 '20 at 16:02

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 03 '20 at 15:44

1

Backslash is used to escape the next character, which is a newline in this case. This allows to split the long call chain to multiple lines.

answered Mar 03 '20 at 15:44

ruohola

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How come, if it works even when you add a space after the backslash? – Oleg O Mar 03 '20 at 15:46
1

thanks! but it isn't work when add a space it just works next character is newline – Hyunjin Lee Mar 03 '20 at 16:00

What does the .\ operator mean in Python?

1 Answers1