Double quotes

ASCII Code: 34•Category: punctuation

The double quotes (") mark direct speech, quotations, and string literals in programming, serving as the universal symbol for exact reproduction of spoken or written words across literature, journalism, and software development.

Technical Details

ASCII Code: 34
HTML Entity: "
Hexadecimal: 0x22
Binary: 00100010
Octal: 42

Usage & Examples

Programming

char symbol = '"'; // ASCII 34

HTML/Web

" or "

Common Uses

quotesquotationspeechdialoguestringprogrammingcitationliteraturejournalism

How to Type This Character

Windows

Alt Code:

Hold Alt and type34 on numeric keypad

Character Map:

Search "Character Map" in Start menu

Mac

Character Viewer:

Press Ctrl +Cmd +Space

Copy & Paste:

Easiest method - copy from this page!

💡 Pro tip: The fastest way is to bookmark this page or copy the character from our ASCII library!

Related Characters

Left Guillemet Double Angle Quotes

#171

Right Guillemet Double Angle Quotes

#187

Inverted Question Mark

#191

Hash symbol

#35

About the Double quotes

Dialogue Foundation

Essential for representing direct speech in literature, journalism, and everyday writing. Double quotes create clear boundaries between narrative text and spoken words, enabling readers to distinguish between different voices and perspectives in complex texts.

Programming Strings

Fundamental to virtually all programming languages for defining string literals, text data, and character sequences. From 'Hello World' programs to complex database queries, double quotes enable software to process and manipulate textual information.

Citation Standards

Critical for academic writing, journalism, and scholarly research to indicate exact quotations from sources. Proper use of double quotes ensures intellectual honesty, prevents plagiarism, and maintains scholarly integrity across disciplines.

Digital Communication

Ubiquitous in digital formats including JSON, XML, CSV, and configuration files. Double quotes structure data interchange between systems, enabling everything from web APIs to database imports and software configuration.

History of the Double quotes

1400s

Early Printing

European printers began using quotation marks to indicate direct speech in printed books, establishing the typographic convention that would become universal in Western literature.

1600s-1700s

Literary Standardization

English and European authors standardized double quote usage for dialogue in novels, plays, and poetry, creating the narrative conventions still used in modern literature.

1800s

Journalistic Adoption

Newspapers and periodicals adopted double quotes for reporting direct speech and quotations, establishing ethical standards for accurate representation of sources in journalism.

1950s-1960s

Computer Programming

Early programming languages like FORTRAN and COBOL used double quotes for string literals, establishing the programming convention that continues across all modern languages.

1990s-Present

Digital Data Formats

Internet protocols, data interchange formats (JSON, XML), and web technologies made double quotes essential for structured data, powering modern web applications and APIs.

Cultural Impact

Double quotes became the universal symbol for authenticity and precision in communication, enabling everything from accurate historical records to the complex data structures that power modern digital civilization.

Usage Examples

Literary Dialogue

Example

"I have a dream," said Martin Luther King Jr. "To be or not to be," wondered Hamlet.

Standard dialogue formatting in literature and historical quotations

Programming Strings

Example

console.log("Hello World"); String name = "Alice"; print("Welcome!")

String literal definition across multiple programming languages

Academic Citations

Example

According to Smith (2023), "Climate change represents our greatest challenge."

Scholarly quotation format for research papers and academic writing

Data Formats

Example

{"name": "John", "age": "25", "city": "New York"}

JSON object notation for web APIs and data interchange