Why are http links in jira escaped

[RV SW]

The login page of JIRA with (introduction on left and login on another) has got http links that are of the form http:\/\/<servername><serverpath> instead of http:\\<servername><serverpath>. Can someone provide input on why links are of this kind?

[RV SW]

Thanks you for the response. Sorry for the typo of the backslashes.

>>To ensure that the // are not broken by programs that use them as escape or control characters

Can you please provide examples of applications that can break. My understanding was that JIRA is designed to be usefd via browsers that work fine with/without the backslashes

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

To ensure that the // are not broken by programs that use them as escape or control characters.  And make sure it's // not \\ as you've typed!