```val a = Regex("foo") a.replace("foobar", "\\w") res3: kotlin.String = wbar``` i would expect this...

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[william]

val a = Regex("foo")
a.replace("foobar", "\\w")
res3: kotlin.String = wbar

i would expect this to return \\wbar - am I missing something here? Isn't \\ an escape for the \ ?

[william]

this helped me https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49074632/kotlin-stringreplace-removing-escape-sequences

[nkiesel]

Kotlin strings replace \\ with a single \ and `\ is special in replacements to quote e.g. the $ which normally indicates a back reference. So if you welly want \\bwbar then you have to use either Regex("foo").replace("foobar", "\\\\\\\\w") or Regex("foo").replace("foobar", """\\\\w""") (which sidesteps the Kotlin String part)