2.1.4 Explicit line joining
Keywords: ref

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2.1.4 Explicit line joining

Two or more physical lines may be joined into logical lines using backslash characters (`\`), as follows: when a physical line ends in a backslash that is not part of a string literal or comment, it is joined with the following forming a single logical line, deleting the backslash and the following end-of-line character. For example:

      if 1900 < year < 2100 and 1 <= month <= 12 \
         and 1 <= day <= 31 and 0 <= hour < 24 \
         and 0 <= minute < 60 and 0 <= second < 60:   # Looks like a valid date
              return 1

A line ending in a backslash cannot carry a comment. A backslash does not continue a comment. A backslash does not continue a token except for string literals (i.e., tokens other than string literals cannot be split across physical lines using a backslash). A backslash is illegal elsewhere on a line outside a string literal.