Data Types

Computer programs work with different kinds of information, each being defined as a specific data type. Understanding these is essential for creating and managing programs effectively.
The main data types are integers, floating-point numbers, characters, strings, and Boolean. However, additional types may be introduced depending on the programming language in use.
Integers: Whole numbers; can be positive, 0, or negative. They don’t have decimal points. For instance 5, -3, 0 are examples of integers.
Floating-point numbers: Also simply called ‘floats’, these are numbers that have decimal places. They can also be positive, 0, or negative. For instance 5.6, -10.0, 0.999 are floating-point numbers.
Characters: This data type includes single alphabets both in lower and upper case, digits, punctuation symbols, spaces, and other control characters. For instance, ‘a’, ‘Z’, ‘5’, ‘?’ and ‘ ‘(space) are all characters.
Strings: This is a sequence of characters. Strings can include words, sentences, numbers, symbols, spaces and so forth. For instance, ‘Hello World!’, ‘abc’, ‘123’ and ‘?!@#$’ are all strings.
Boolean: This simple data type can only consist of two values - true or false. It’s often used in conditions and loops.
Each data type has different operations associated with it. For instance, addition or subtraction with integers, concatenation with strings, and logical operations with Boolean values.
Computers store different data types differently. For example, an integer may use a certain amount of memory space, while the same number represented as a floating-point number or a string may use a different space from memory.
There are also compound data types, also known as data structures. Examples include arrays (ordered list of a single type of data), records (structures featuring different data types), and objects (a complex type that contains data and methods). They allow you to gather either same type or different types of data under one umbrella.
Type checking is a process where the data types of variables are checked by the compiler. It helps in preventing errors and bugs in the program.
Type casting or type conversion is when you manually change one data type to another. For instance, changing a integer to a string so it can be concatenated with other strings.
Understanding data types helps you better understand the capabilities and limits of a programming language. Knowledge of this is invaluable for writing efficient, bug-free code.