Why username and hostname is quoted in MySQL? -

Why username and hostname is quoted in MySQL? -

i found in many sources including mysql documentation, statement appears

show grants 'monty'@'localhost';

example taken here. note both monty , localhost quoted. tried unquoted version

show grants monty@localhost;

in mysql console, , got same result.

could explain reason why 2 words quoted in docs , tutorials?

that's because mysql user names can contain character, including quotation marks , spaces. example, legal syntax:

mysql> grant on test.* ' \\"\'@*.'@'localhost'; query ok, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

if user name contains non-alphanumeric characters dots, spaces or quotation marks, mysql throw error unless enclosed in quotation marks , escaped backslashes necessary.

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