title: Why R uses forward slash (/) and not backslash (\) in file paths
body: <p>I was teaching an online course and a student asked me why R only uses <code>/</code> and not <code>\</code> in file paths when using <code>read.csv</code> and other related functions. I tried looking at the <a href="https://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-devel/library/utils/html/read.table.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">documentation</a> but it didn’t really mention anything about it. Never really thought about it because I use a Mac, and the default in Macs is <code>\</code>, but not so in Windows machines.</p>
  <p>I’m not trained in computer science so I was left a bit stumped to answer the question a I’m afraid. Students always ask the darnest things!</p>