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Special Symbols

SymbolEnglish EquivalentDescription
.DotUsed for object property access in many languages, decimal points in numbers, and file type specification in filenames.
( )ParenthesesUsed for grouping code, controlling the order of operations, and defining parameters in function calls.
[ ]Square BracketsOften used for array indexing, specifying lists, or parts of regular expressions.
{ }Curly BracesUsed to define a block of code, such as in functions or loops.
< >Angle BracketsCommonly used in HTML tags, generics in languages like Java and C#, and include statements in C++.
&AmpersandUsed for 'AND' operations in conditions, referencing variables, and sometimes for bitwise operations.
*AsteriskIndicates multiplication in arithmetic operations, a pointer in C languages, and wildcard characters in various contexts.
/Forward SlashUsed for division in arithmetic operations and as a delimiter in file paths and URLs.
\BackslashUsed as an escape character in strings (e.g., \\n for a new line).
^CaretRepresents the 'XOR' operation in bitwise contexts and used as a power operator in some programming environments.
%Percent SignUsed as the modulo operator in arithmetic operations, returning the remainder of a division.
;SemicolonOften used to denote the end of a statement in languages like C, C++, and Java.
:ColonUsed in various contexts like defining conditions in ternary operators, labeling in cases of switch statements, and specifying types in certain languages.
?Question MarkUsed in ternary conditional operations to introduce a conditional check.
!Exclamation MarkRepresents logical negation in conditions.
#HashUsed for defining preprocessor directives in C/C++, and commenting in scripts like Python and Ruby.
$Dollar SignCommonly used to denote variables in scripting languages like PHP and Perl.
-DashUsed primarily for subtraction in arithmetic operations, also for negating values and in command-line arguments.
_UnderscoreOften used in variable names and function names, especially in languages adhering to snake_case conventions.
`BacktickUsed to define template literals in JavaScript, allowing embedded expressions and multi-line strings.
" and 'Quotation MarksUsed to denote string literals; the use of single or double quotes can vary by language and context.
@At SignUsed for decorators in Python, to denote email addresses in strings, and for annotations in languages like Java.