In java I how do I escape a * character

Question

I have a string

String a = "dcvdk*vmfdkvm*bmkjfnb*";

I want to replace the * character by space

I tried a.replaceAll("\*", " ");

But it is giving error as invalid escape sequence. Can you please tell me how can I achieve this?

Andy Turner · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-01T07:23:13.170

3

Escape the escape character:

"\\*"

Alternatively, just use replace, which treats the arguments as literals, not regexes:

a.replace("*", " ")

Or, as Aniket Sahrawat points out, you can use the char overload in this case:

a.replace('*', ' ')

edited Oct 01 '19 at 07:23

answered Oct 01 '19 at 07:15

Andy Turner

3

Or you can use `a.replace('*', ' ');` Any +1 for me? @Someprogrammerdude :p – Aniket Sahrawat Oct 01 '19 at 07:21

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 01 '19 at 07:16

1

Remember that the backslash have a special meaning in strings, and you need to escape the backslash itself to get an actual backslash:

a.replaceAll("\\*", " ");

answered Oct 01 '19 at 07:16

2 Answers2