title: MySQL equivalent of Python's triple-quoted strings?
body: <p>Using Python's triple-quoted strings I can define strings containing <code>'</code>, backticks, or <code>"</code> without having to care about it:</p>
  
  <pre class="lang-py prettyprint-override"><code>hello = """    
              This string is bounded by triple double quotes (3 times ").
          Unescaped newlines in the string are retained, though 
          it is still possible to use all normal escape sequences.
  
              Whitespace at the beginning of a line is
          significant.  
  
              This string ends in a newline.
          """
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>In PHP I could use <a href="http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php#language.types.string.syntax.heredoc" rel="nofollow">heredoc</a> (<code>&lt;&lt;&lt;</code>):</p>
  
  <pre class="lang-php prettyprint-override"><code>$str = &lt;&lt;&lt;EOD
  Example of string
  spanning multiple lines
  using heredoc syntax.
  EOD;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How can I do the same in MySQL? Right now I have to make sure I escape the character I use to delimitate, e.g. if I use <code>'</code> as delimiter I have to use <code>\'</code> in my string:</p>
  
  <pre class="lang-sql prettyprint-override"><code>UPDATE article
  SET article_text ='
  Extra-virgin olive oil is a staple in any chef\'s kitchen.
  '
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I would like to be able something like</p>
  
  <pre class="lang-sql prettyprint-override"><code>UPDATE article
  SET article_text ='''
  Extra-virgin olive oil is a staple in any chef's kitchen.
  '''
  </code></pre>