Template:Computer Programming/Variables/1

From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Variables are references that stand in for a value that is contained at a certain memory address.

Variables are said to have a value and may have a data type. If a variable has a type, then only values of this type may be assigned to it. Variables do not always have a type.

A value can have many values of many different types: integers (7), ratios (1/2), (approximations of) reals (10.234), complex numbers (4+2i), characters ('a'), strings ("hello"), and much more.

Different languages use different names for their types and may not include any of the above.

Assignment statements[edit source]

An assignment statement is used to set a variable to a new value.