Usage of the backtick character (`) in JavaScript

Question

In JavaScript, a backtick^† seems to work the same as a single quote. For instance, I can use a backtick to define a string like this:

var s         


        

Answer 1

Backticks enclose template literals, previously known as template strings. Template literals are string literals that allow embedded expressions and string interpolation features.

Template literals have expressions embedded in placeholders, denoted by the dollar sign and curly brackets around an expression, i.e. ${expression}. The placeholder / expressions get passed to a function. The default function just concatenates the string.

To escape a backtick, put a backslash before it:

`\`` === '`'; => true

Use backticks to more easily write multi-line string:

console.log(`string text line 1
string text line 2`);

or

console.log(`Fifteen is ${a + b} and
not ${2 * a + b}.`);

vs. vanilla JavaScript:

console.log('string text line 1\n' +
'string text line 2');

or

console.log('Fifteen is ' + (a + b) + ' and\nnot ' + (2 * a + b) + '.');

Escape sequences:

• Unicode escapes started by \u, for example \u00A9
• Unicode code point escapes indicated by \u{}, for example \u{2F804}
• Hexadecimal escapes started by \x, for example \xA9
• Octal literal escapes started by \ and (a) digit(s), for example \251