Variables are one of the more fundamental concepts in computer science. Programmers speak of declaring and initializing variables and assigning values to them. Put simply, variables are references to information stored in memory. The word variable means "able to be changed," and so variables are references to information in memory that a program can change over time. This is different than constants, which are required to remain the same. Though variables are stored in memory as a binary numerical value, most languages interpret the variables into a type. Common types include integers (for whole numbers), floats (for numbers with a decimal) and characters. Languages use either static or dynamic typing. Static typing requires that a declared variable can have only one type within a scope, whereas dynamic typing stores the type with the variable in memory, allowing a given variable to change types as a program goes on. A language uses pass-by value if, when it passes a variable into a function, the value contained by the variable is copied into a new memory location for use in the function. A language uses pass-by reference if, when it passes a variable into a function, the address of the location in memory is used by the function.Variable vs. Constant
Common Types
Static vs. Dynamic Typing
Pass-by Value
Pass-by Reference
Source:
What you do as a video game designer?
by Answerbag Staff on March 18th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
What is the importance of learning c language?
by Answerbag Staff on March 17th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
What is a function in Visual Basic?
by Answerbag Staff on March 16th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
what is the sexiest language?
by imgonnahidenow on February 5th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
Which is good and free webhosting site to host my Asp.net projects?
by beau on January 19th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
You're reading What do variables mean?
Your favorite Q&A site is on Facebook! Become a fan to connect with the ever-growing community of Answerbaggers, share your thoughts and find out what Answerbag's up to next!
Comments