What is the purpose of an escape character in programming?

The purpose of an escape character in programming is to invoke an alternative interpretation of subsequent characters. Escape characters, often denoted by a backslash (e.g., \n, \t, \"), enable programmers to include special characters within strings that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to represent directly. For instance, you can use an escape character to insert a newline in a string (\n), a tab space (\t), or to include quotation marks within a string without terminating it.

This functionality is crucial because it enhances the expressiveness and flexibility of string manipulation. Without escape characters, certain characters could disrupt the flow of the code or lead to syntactical errors. Thus, escape characters serve a vital role in controlling how strings are interpreted and displayed.