What is the appropriate usage of a forward-slash "/" and back-slash "\"???

Answer 1

Slash (n)
A slash is a mark that is used between two words to indicate an alternative or clarify a point. It may also be used to separate lines of poetry. Note that the slash (/) leans toward the right side of the page. Besides commonly being used to separate dates, it is the symbol used in web addresses, e.g. http://answers.yahoo.com.

Backslash (n)
Also known as a reverse solidus, the backslash is a computer keyboard key ( \ ) found on the same key as the pipe key. The back slash is commonly used to indicate directories and subdirectories in computer systems such as Unix, e.g. c:\directories. Unfortunately, many people,believe “backslash” is a technical term for the slash -- colloquially called forward slash -- and thus use the term incorrectly. This risks confusing who know enough to distinguish between the two but not enough to realize that Web addresses rarely contain backslashes.