[CAluvdubya]

It’s not a fraction. The backslash is another way to write a division sign just as a * is used instead of x for multiplication

[Melas]

Lol, all division is an expression of a fraction, or vice versa, which is the same. Or rather that is to say that all fractions are expressed ratios of two numbers or equations, and all division is a quotient of that ratio. They are intertwined. The horizontal line in a fraction is just a useful tool to help visually clarify the equation, and even simple division is indeed an equation.

[re_nortex]

The backslash is another way to write a division sign just as a * is used instead of x for multiplication.

Here are two points of clarification for the names of certain symbols germane to this discussion:

\ - reverse solidus or backslash (NOT division)
/ - solidus, virgule or slash (division)
* - star, splat, asterisk or glob (multiplication)

All of these and so much more at Second Amendment Advocate Eric Raymond's famous Jargon File.

A courtesy ping to rdb3 since he likes all this obscure geek stuff and as fellow Linux user encounters the slash quite often as the directory separator -- not like what they use on that other "operating" system. :-)