quotes and backslashes in VARCHAR()

[dziola]

I know to solve the problem of a single quote or backslash you add another one infront of the first so MySQL understands it as a single quote or backslash. In my java program though the user enters a string into a textfield and I am not there to add the extra quote or backslash into the string when they enter the string. I could probably write a method which takes care of that for me, but there must already be a MySQL command or function that takes care of that for me that I can add into my program line. My text book briefly notes a mysql_real_escape_string() method but it does not explain it very well. If someone can help me with this that would be helpful.

Here is an example of a line of code in my program.

c.execute("INSERT INTO PROFILE set authent = 'Derek's To Do List' ");