> # SQL Escape Sequences

> Language features, such as outer joins and scalar function calls, are commonly implemented by database systems. The syntax for these features is often database-specific, even when a standard syntax has been defined. ODBC and JDBC define escape sequences that contain standard syntaxes for the following language features:

> - Date, time, timestamp, and datetime literals
> - Scalar functions such as numeric, string, and data type conversion functions
> - Outer joins

> The escape sequence is recognized and parsed by the driver, which replaces the escape sequences with data store-specific grammar.