In SQL, string values are enclosed within single quotes. However, if your data string contains a single quote ('), SQL will interpret this as the end of the string literal, leading to a syntax error. To prevent this, you need to escape the single quote within the string. The most common method is to use a backslash (\) before the single quote. This tells SQL to treat the single quote as a literal character within the string, rather than as a string delimiter.Imagine you want to insert the phrase 'O'Reilly Media' into a database column. Without escaping the single quote within the string, the SQL statement would be invalid. Using the backslash escape character, you can correctly represent the string within the database.This is a crucial concept for data integrity. If you don't escape single quotes, your data might not be stored correctly, leading to errors in queries and applications that use the data. It's essential to understand this technique for inserting and retrieving data containing special characters, such as single quotes, apostrophes, or other reserved characters.