What is carriage return?

A carriage return is a control character or command used in computing and typewriting to move the cursor to the beginning of a new line. It is used to mark the end of a line of text and signal that the next character will be at the beginning of a new line.

In computing, the carriage return character is represented by the ASCII code 13 (decimal) or 0x0D (hexadecimal). It is often used in conjunction with the line feed character (ASCII code 10 or 0x0A) to create a new line in text files and documents.

Carriage return is also commonly used in programming languages and text editors to create new lines or format text, as well as in command line interfaces to indicate the end of a command or input. It is an essential component of text processing and formatting.

In modern computing systems, carriage return is often automatically handled by text editors and word processors, but it can still be useful in certain applications or when working with text files in specific formats.