Thread: Problem specifying \ in a string literal Using Matcher/Patteren class's

Hi , I have created a simple program below to test how java handles regular expressions , I have created a pattern object p specifying an array of characters as the parameters, then created the Matcher object m using p as the pattern and a string of characters as the parameter then invoked the matches()on the matcher object m and printed the boolean result to the console.

import java.util.regex.Pattern;
import java.util.regex.Matcher; 
public class regexTest {
public static void main (String []args) {
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("[a-zA-Z0-9-
/]+"); 
Matcher m = p.matcher("123456-07//");
boolean b = m.matches();
String s1 = m.toString(); 
System.out.println(m.matches());
System.out.print(m.toString());
}
}

The program works fine and returns a Boolean true to the console indicating the match was successful for the following
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("[a-zA-Z0-9-
/]+");
Matcher m = p.matcher("123456-07//");

Result = true
java.util.regex.Matcher[pattern=[a-zA-Z0-9-\/]+ region=0,11 lastmatch=123456-07//]<<< Process finished.
The problem occurs when I want to add the \ character to the pattern and matcher class character sequence.

Note: As backslashes within string literals in java are interpreted as character escapes its necessary to use double backslash
to represent a single backslash, thus the expression
matches a single backslash.

Adding
to both Pattern and Matcher :

Pattern p = Pattern.compile("[a-zA-Z0-9-
/]+");
Matcher m = p.matcher("123456-07
//");

Result = false
java.util.regex.Matcher[pattern=[a-zA-Z0-9-\/]+ region=0,12 lastmatch=]<<< Process finished.
As Can be seen the Result retuned is false and there is no match

How can I specify the \ character in the pattern and matcher in order to have a Boolean True returned??
I have tried using a single character \ in the Matcher but the compiler does not like it.
egexTest.java:9: illegal escape character
Matcher m = p.matcher("123456-07\//"

Any Help or direction on this simple but highly frustrating problem greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance