Data type
Encyclopedia
In computer programming
, a data type is a classification identifying one of various types of data, such as floating-point, integer
, or Boolean, that determines the possible values for that type; the operations that can be done on values of that type; the meaning of the data; and the way values of that type can be stored. Data types are used within type system
s, which offer various ways of defining, implementing and using them. Different type systems ensure varying degrees of type safety
. Formally, a type can be defined as "..any property of a programme we can determine without executing the program".
Common data types may include:
For example, in the Java programming language
, the "int" type represents the set of 32-bit
integers
ranging in value from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647, as well as the operations that can be performed on integers, such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Colors, on the other hand, are represented by three byte
s denoting the amounts each of red, green, and blue, and one string representing that color's name; allowable operations include addition and subtraction, but not multiplication.
Most programming languages also allow the programmer to define additional data types, usually by combining multiple elements of other types and defining the valid operations of the new data type. For example, a programmer might create a new data type named "complex number
" that would include real and imaginary parts.
A data type also represents a constraint placed upon the interpretation of data in a type system
, describing representation, interpretation and structure of value
s or object
s stored in computer memory. The type system uses data type information to check correctness of computer programs that access or manipulate the data.
s (alternatives 0 and 1) on the lowest level. The smallest addressable unit of data is usually a group of bits called a byte
(usually an octet
, which is 8 bits). The unit processed by machine code
instructions is called a word (as of 2011, typically 32 or 64 bits). Most instructions interpret the word as a binary number, such that a 32-bit word can represent unsigned integer values from 0 to
or signed integer values from 
to 
. Because of two's complement
, the machine language and machine doesn't need to distinguish between these unsigned and signed data types for the most part.
There is a specific set of arithmetic instructions that use a different interpretation of the bits in word as a floating-point number.
Machine data types need to be exposed or made available in systems or low-level programming language
s, allowing fine-grained control over hardware. The C programming language, for instance, supplies integer types of various widths, such as
Several languages allow binary
and hexadecimal
literals, for convenient manipulation of machine data.
In higher level programming, machine data types are often hidden or abstracted as an implementation detail that would render code less portable if exposed. For instance, a generic
and false
. Although only two values are possible, they are rarely implemented as as single binary digit for efficiency reasons. Many programming languages do not have an explicit boolean type, instead interpreting (for instance) 0 as false and other values as true.
Character and string types can store sequences of characters from a character set such as ASCII
. Since most character sets include the digits, it is possible to have a numeric string, such as
Character and string types can have different subtypes according to the required character "width". The original 7-bit wide ASCII was found to be limited, and superseded by 8 and 16-bit sets, which can encode a wide variety of non-latin alphabets (Hebrew, Chinese
) and other symbols.
Strings may be either stretch-to-fit or of fixed size, even in the same programming language. They may also be subtyped by their maximum size.
Note: strings are not primitive in all languages, for instance C: they may be composed from arrays of characters.
. This has values which are different from each other, and which can be compared an assigned, but which do not necessarily have any particular concrete representation in the computer's memory; compilers and interpreters can represent them arbitrarily. For example, the four suits in a deck of playing cards may be four enumerators named CLUB, DIAMOND, HEART, SPADE, belonging to an enumerated type named suit. If a variable V is declared having suit as its data type, one can assign any of those four values to it. Some implementations allow programmers to assign integer values to the enumeration values, or even treat them as type-equivalent to integers.
In some language, such as C, functions have a type derived from the type of their return value.
using its address
. It is a primitive kind of reference
. (In everyday terms, a page number in a book could be considered a piece of data that refers to another one). Pointers are often stored in a format similar to an integer; however, attempting to dereference or "look up" a pointer whose value was never a valid memory address would cause a programme to crash. To ameliorate this potential problem, pointers are considered a separate type to the type of data they point to, even if the underlying representation is the same.
s are derived from more than one primitive type. This can be done in a number of ways. The ways they are combined are called data structure
s. Composing a primitive type into a compound type generally results in a new type, eg. array-of-integer is a different type to integer.
Many others are possible, but they tend to be further variations and compounds of the above.
. For instance, a stack (which is an abstract type) can be implemented as an array (a contiguous block of memory containing multiple values), or as a linked list
(a set of non-contiguous memory blocks linked by pointers).
Abstract types can be handled by code that does not know or "care" what underlying types are contained
in them. Programming that is agnostic about concrete data types is called generic programming
. Arrays and records can also contain underlying types, but are considered concrete because they specify how their contents or elements are laid out in memory.
Examples include:-
A compiler
may use the static type of a value to optimize the storage it needs and the choice of algorithms for operations on the value. In many C
compilers the data type
, for example, is represented in 32 bit
s, in accord with the IEEE specification for single-precision floating point numbers. They will thus use floating-point-specific microprocessor operations
on those values (floating-point addition, multiplication, etc.).
The depth of type constraints and the manner of their evaluation affect the typing of the language. A programming language
may further associate an operation with varying concrete algorithms on each type in the case of type polymorphism
. Type theory
is the study of type systems, although the concrete type systems of programming languages originate from practical issues of computer architecture, compiler implementation, and language design.
Type systems may be variously static or dynamic, strong or weak typing
, and so forth.
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
, a data type is a classification identifying one of various types of data, such as floating-point, integer
Integer (computer science)
In computer science, an integer is a datum of integral data type, a data type which represents some finite subset of the mathematical integers. Integral data types may be of different sizes and may or may not be allowed to contain negative values....
, or Boolean, that determines the possible values for that type; the operations that can be done on values of that type; the meaning of the data; and the way values of that type can be stored. Data types are used within type system
Type system
A type system associates a type with each computed value. By examining the flow of these values, a type system attempts to ensure or prove that no type errors can occur...
s, which offer various ways of defining, implementing and using them. Different type systems ensure varying degrees of type safety
Type safety
In computer science, type safety is the extent to which a programming language discourages or prevents type errors. A type error is erroneous or undesirable program behaviour caused by a discrepancy between differing data types...
. Formally, a type can be defined as "..any property of a programme we can determine without executing the program".
Overview
Almost all programming languages explicitly include the notion of data type, though different languages may use different terminology.Common data types may include:
- integersInteger (computer science)In computer science, an integer is a datum of integral data type, a data type which represents some finite subset of the mathematical integers. Integral data types may be of different sizes and may or may not be allowed to contain negative values....
, - booleans,
- characterCharacter (computing)In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language....
s, - floating-pointFloating pointIn computing, floating point describes a method of representing real numbers in a way that can support a wide range of values. Numbers are, in general, represented approximately to a fixed number of significant digits and scaled using an exponent. The base for the scaling is normally 2, 10 or 16...
numbers, - alphanumeric stringsString (computer science)In formal languages, which are used in mathematical logic and theoretical computer science, a string is a finite sequence of symbols that are chosen from a set or alphabet....
.
For example, in the Java programming language
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
, the "int" type represents the set of 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
integers
Integer (computer science)
In computer science, an integer is a datum of integral data type, a data type which represents some finite subset of the mathematical integers. Integral data types may be of different sizes and may or may not be allowed to contain negative values....
ranging in value from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647, as well as the operations that can be performed on integers, such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Colors, on the other hand, are represented by three byte
Byte
The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...
s denoting the amounts each of red, green, and blue, and one string representing that color's name; allowable operations include addition and subtraction, but not multiplication.
Most programming languages also allow the programmer to define additional data types, usually by combining multiple elements of other types and defining the valid operations of the new data type. For example, a programmer might create a new data type named "complex number
Complex number
A complex number is a number consisting of a real part and an imaginary part. Complex numbers extend the idea of the one-dimensional number line to the two-dimensional complex plane by using the number line for the real part and adding a vertical axis to plot the imaginary part...
" that would include real and imaginary parts.
A data type also represents a constraint placed upon the interpretation of data in a type system
Type system
A type system associates a type with each computed value. By examining the flow of these values, a type system attempts to ensure or prove that no type errors can occur...
, describing representation, interpretation and structure of value
Value (computer science)
In computer science, a value is an expression which cannot be evaluated any further . The members of a type are the values of that type. For example, the expression "1 + 2" is not a value as it can be reduced to the expression "3"...
s or object
Object (computer science)
In computer science, an object is any entity that can be manipulated by the commands of a programming language, such as a value, variable, function, or data structure...
s stored in computer memory. The type system uses data type information to check correctness of computer programs that access or manipulate the data.
Machine data types
All data in computers based on digital electronics is represented as bitBit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
s (alternatives 0 and 1) on the lowest level. The smallest addressable unit of data is usually a group of bits called a byte
Byte
The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...
(usually an octet
Octet (computing)
An octet is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that consists of eight bits. The term is often used when the term byte might be ambiguous, as there is no standard for the size of the byte.-Overview:...
, which is 8 bits). The unit processed by machine code
Machine code
Machine code or machine language is a system of impartible instructions executed directly by a computer's central processing unit. Each instruction performs a very specific task, typically either an operation on a unit of data Machine code or machine language is a system of impartible instructions...
instructions is called a word (as of 2011, typically 32 or 64 bits). Most instructions interpret the word as a binary number, such that a 32-bit word can represent unsigned integer values from 0 to
or signed integer values from to . Because of two's complementTwo's complement
The two's complement of a binary number is defined as the value obtained by subtracting the number from a large power of two...
, the machine language and machine doesn't need to distinguish between these unsigned and signed data types for the most part.
There is a specific set of arithmetic instructions that use a different interpretation of the bits in word as a floating-point number.
Machine data types need to be exposed or made available in systems or low-level programming language
Low-level programming language
In computer science, a low-level programming language is a programming language that provides little or no abstraction from a computer's instruction set architecture. Generally this refers to either machine code or assembly language...
s, allowing fine-grained control over hardware. The C programming language, for instance, supplies integer types of various widths, such as
short and long. If a corresponding native type does not exist on the target platform, the compiler will break them down into code using types that do exist. For instance, if a 32-bit integer is requested on a 16 bit platform, the compiler will tacitly treat it as an array of two 16 bit integers.Several languages allow binary
Binary
- Mathematics :* Binary numeral system, a representation for numbers using only two digits * Binary function, a function in mathematics that takes two arguments- Computing :* Binary file, composed of something other than human-readable text...
and hexadecimal
Hexadecimal
In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal is a positional numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0–9 to represent values zero to nine, and A, B, C, D, E, F to represent values ten to fifteen...
literals, for convenient manipulation of machine data.
In higher level programming, machine data types are often hidden or abstracted as an implementation detail that would render code less portable if exposed. For instance, a generic
numeric type might be supplied instead of integers of some specific bit-width.The boolean type
The Boolean type represents the values: trueTrue
True may refer to:* Truth, the state of being in accord with fact or reality-Music:* True , 1996* True , 2002* True , 1983** "True"...
and false
False
False or falsehood may refer to:*False *Lie or falsehood, a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement*Falsity or falsehood, in law, deceitfulness by one party that results in damage to another...
. Although only two values are possible, they are rarely implemented as as single binary digit for efficiency reasons. Many programming languages do not have an explicit boolean type, instead interpreting (for instance) 0 as false and other values as true.
Numeric types
Such as:-- The integer data types, or "whole numbers". May be subtyped according to their ability to contain negative values (eg.
unsignedin C and C++). May also have a small number of predefined subtypes (such asshortandlongin C/C++); or allow users to freely define subranges such as 1..12 (eg. PASCALPascalPascal or PASCAL may refer to:-People:* Pascal , a French given name* Pascal , a French and Italian surname* Adam Pascal , American actor and singer, best known for his role of Roger Davis in the Broadway musical Rent* Blaise Pascal , French mathematician and philosopher* Cleo Paskal, environmental...
/ADAAda-People:* St. Ada, a 7th-century French abbess* Ada, Countess of Atholl * Ada, Countess of Holland* Ada de Warenne, Countess of Northumbria and Huntingdon...
). - Floating pointFloating pointIn computing, floating point describes a method of representing real numbers in a way that can support a wide range of values. Numbers are, in general, represented approximately to a fixed number of significant digits and scaled using an exponent. The base for the scaling is normally 2, 10 or 16...
data types, sometimes misleadingly called realReal numberIn mathematics, a real number is a value that represents a quantity along a continuum, such as -5 , 4/3 , 8.6 , √2 and π...
s, contain fractional values. They usually have predefined limits on both their maximum values and their precision. - Fixed point data types are convenient for representing monetary values. They are often implemented internally as integers, leading to predefined limits.
- Bignum or arbitrary precision numeric types lack predefined limits. They are not primitive types, and are used sparingly for efficiency reasons.
String and text types
Such as- AlphanumericAlphanumericAlphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters, and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits or a text constructed from this collection. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters. The alphanumeric character set consists of the numbers 0 to...
characterCharacter (computing)In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language....
. A letter of the alphabetAlphabetAn alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
, digit, blank space, punctuation mark, etc. - Alphanumeric stringsString (computer science)In formal languages, which are used in mathematical logic and theoretical computer science, a string is a finite sequence of symbols that are chosen from a set or alphabet....
, a sequence of characters. They are typically used to represent words and text.
Character and string types can store sequences of characters from a character set such as ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
. Since most character sets include the digits, it is possible to have a numeric string, such as
"1234". However, many languages would still treat these as belonging to a different type to the numeric value 1234.Character and string types can have different subtypes according to the required character "width". The original 7-bit wide ASCII was found to be limited, and superseded by 8 and 16-bit sets, which can encode a wide variety of non-latin alphabets (Hebrew, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
) and other symbols.
Strings may be either stretch-to-fit or of fixed size, even in the same programming language. They may also be subtyped by their maximum size.
Note: strings are not primitive in all languages, for instance C: they may be composed from arrays of characters.
Enumerations
The enumerated typeEnumerated type
In computer programming, an enumerated type is a data type consisting of a set of named values called elements, members or enumerators of the type. The enumerator names are usually identifiers that behave as constants in the language...
. This has values which are different from each other, and which can be compared an assigned, but which do not necessarily have any particular concrete representation in the computer's memory; compilers and interpreters can represent them arbitrarily. For example, the four suits in a deck of playing cards may be four enumerators named CLUB, DIAMOND, HEART, SPADE, belonging to an enumerated type named suit. If a variable V is declared having suit as its data type, one can assign any of those four values to it. Some implementations allow programmers to assign integer values to the enumeration values, or even treat them as type-equivalent to integers.
Derived types
Types can be based on, or derived from, the basic types explained above.In some language, such as C, functions have a type derived from the type of their return value.
Pointers and references
The main non-composite, derived type is the pointer, a data type whose value refers directly to (or "points to") another value stored elsewhere in the computer memoryComputer memory
In computing, memory refers to the physical devices used to store programs or data on a temporary or permanent basis for use in a computer or other digital electronic device. The term primary memory is used for the information in physical systems which are fast In computing, memory refers to the...
using its address
Memory address
A digital computer's memory, more specifically main memory, consists of many memory locations, each having a memory address, a number, analogous to a street address, at which computer programs store and retrieve, machine code or data. Most application programs do not directly read and write to...
. It is a primitive kind of reference
Reference (computer science)
In computer science, a reference is a value that enables a program to indirectly access a particular data item, such as a variable or a record, in the computer's memory or in some other storage device. The reference is said to refer to the data item, and accessing those data is called...
. (In everyday terms, a page number in a book could be considered a piece of data that refers to another one). Pointers are often stored in a format similar to an integer; however, attempting to dereference or "look up" a pointer whose value was never a valid memory address would cause a programme to crash. To ameliorate this potential problem, pointers are considered a separate type to the type of data they point to, even if the underlying representation is the same.
Composite types
Composite typeComposite type
In computer science, a composite data type is any data type which can be constructed in a program using its programming language's primitive data types and other composite types...
s are derived from more than one primitive type. This can be done in a number of ways. The ways they are combined are called data structure
Data structure
In computer science, a data structure is a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently.Different kinds of data structures are suited to different kinds of applications, and some are highly specialized to specific tasks...
s. Composing a primitive type into a compound type generally results in a new type, eg. array-of-integer is a different type to integer.
- An arrayArrayIn computer science, an array data structure or simply array is a data structure consisting of a collection of elements , each identified by at least one index...
stores a number of elements of the same type in a specific order. They are accessed using an integer to specify which element is required (although the elements may be of almost any type). Arrays may be fixed-length or expandable. - RecordRecord (computer science)In computer science, a record is an instance of a product of primitive data types called a tuple. In C it is the compound data in a struct. Records are among the simplest data structures. A record is a value that contains other values, typically in fixed number and sequence and typically indexed...
(also called tuple or struct) Records are among the simplest data structureData structureIn computer science, a data structure is a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently.Different kinds of data structures are suited to different kinds of applications, and some are highly specialized to specific tasks...
s. A record is a value that contains other values, typically in fixed number and sequence and typically indexed by names. The elements of records are usually called fields or members. - Union. A union type definition will specify which of a number of permitted primitive types may be stored in its instances, eg "float or long integer". Contrast with a recordRecord (computer science)In computer science, a record is an instance of a product of primitive data types called a tuple. In C it is the compound data in a struct. Records are among the simplest data structures. A record is a value that contains other values, typically in fixed number and sequence and typically indexed...
, which could be defined to contain a float and an integer; whereas, in a union, there is only one value at a time. - A tagged unionTagged unionIn computer science, a tagged union, also called a variant, variant record, discriminated union, or disjoint union, is a data structure used to hold a value that could take on several different, but fixed types. Only one of the types can be in use at any one time, and a tag field explicitly...
(also called a variantVariant typeVariant is a data type in certain programming languages, particularly Visual Basic and C++ when using the Component Object Model.In Visual Basic the Variant data type is a tagged union that can be used to represent any other data type except fixed-length string type and...
, variant record, discriminated union, or disjoint union) contains an additional field indicating its current type, for enhanced type safety. - A set is an abstract data structure that can store certain values, without any particular orderSequenceIn mathematics, a sequence is an ordered list of objects . Like a set, it contains members , and the number of terms is called the length of the sequence. Unlike a set, order matters, and exactly the same elements can appear multiple times at different positions in the sequence...
, and no repeated values. Values themselves are not retrieved from sets, rather one tests a value for membership to obtain a boolean "in" or "not in". - An objectObject (computer science)In computer science, an object is any entity that can be manipulated by the commands of a programming language, such as a value, variable, function, or data structure...
contains a number of data fields, like a record, and also a number of programme code fragments for accessing or modifying them. Data structures not containing code, like those above, are called plain old data structure.
Many others are possible, but they tend to be further variations and compounds of the above.
Abstract types
Any type that does not specify an implementation is an Abstract data typeAbstract data type
In computing, an abstract data type is a mathematical model for a certain class of data structures that have similar behavior; or for certain data types of one or more programming languages that have similar semantics...
. For instance, a stack (which is an abstract type) can be implemented as an array (a contiguous block of memory containing multiple values), or as a linked list
Linked list
In computer science, a linked list is a data structure consisting of a group of nodes which together represent a sequence. Under the simplest form, each node is composed of a datum and a reference to the next node in the sequence; more complex variants add additional links...
(a set of non-contiguous memory blocks linked by pointers).
Abstract types can be handled by code that does not know or "care" what underlying types are contained
in them. Programming that is agnostic about concrete data types is called generic programming
Generic programming
In a broad definition, generic programming is a style of computer programming in which algorithms are written in terms of to-be-specified-later types that are then instantiated when needed for specific types provided as parameters...
. Arrays and records can also contain underlying types, but are considered concrete because they specify how their contents or elements are laid out in memory.
Examples include:-
- A smart pointerSmart pointerIn computer science, a smart pointer is an abstract data type that simulates a pointer while providing additional features, such as automatic garbage collection or bounds checking. These additional features are intended to reduce bugs caused by the misuse of pointers while retaining efficiency...
is the abstract counterpart to a pointer. Both are kinds of referenceReference (computer science)In computer science, a reference is a value that enables a program to indirectly access a particular data item, such as a variable or a record, in the computer's memory or in some other storage device. The reference is said to refer to the data item, and accessing those data is called... - A hashHash tableIn computer science, a hash table or hash map is a data structure that uses a hash function to map identifying values, known as keys , to their associated values . Thus, a hash table implements an associative array...
or dictionary or map or Map/Associative array/DictionaryAssociative arrayIn computer science, an associative array is an abstract data type composed of a collection of pairs, such that each possible key appears at most once in the collection....
is a more flexible variation on a record, in which name-value pairs can be added and deleted freely. - A queue is a first-in first-out list. Variations are DequeDequeIn computer science, a double-ended queue is an abstract data structure that implements a queue for which elements can only be added to or removed from the front or back...
and Priority queuePriority queueA priority queue is an abstract data type in computer programming.It is exactly like a regular queue or stack data structure, but additionally, each element is associated with a "priority"....
. - A setSet (computer science)In computer science, a set is an abstract data structure that can store certain values, without any particular order, and no repeated values. It is a computer implementation of the mathematical concept of a finite set...
can store certain values, without any particular orderSequenceIn mathematics, a sequence is an ordered list of objects . Like a set, it contains members , and the number of terms is called the length of the sequence. Unlike a set, order matters, and exactly the same elements can appear multiple times at different positions in the sequence...
, and with no repeated values. - A stackStack (data structure)In computer science, a stack is a last in, first out abstract data type and linear data structure. A stack can have any abstract data type as an element, but is characterized by only three fundamental operations: push, pop and stack top. The push operation adds a new item to the top of the stack,...
is a first-in, last-out list. - A tree is a hierarchical structure.
- A graphGraph (data structure)In computer science, a graph is an abstract data structure that is meant to implement the graph and hypergraph concepts from mathematics.A graph data structure consists of a finite set of ordered pairs, called edges or arcs, of certain entities called nodes or vertices...
.
Utility types
For convenience, high-level languages may supply ready-made "real world" data types, for instance times, dates and monetary values, even where the language allows them to be built from primitive types.Type systems
A type system associates types with each computed value. By examining the flow of these values, a type system attempts to prove that no type errors can occur. The type system in question determines what constitutes a type error, but a type system generally seeks to guarantee that operations expecting a certain kind of value are not used with values for which that operation does not make sense.A compiler
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
may use the static type of a value to optimize the storage it needs and the choice of algorithms for operations on the value. In many C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
compilers the data type
Data type
In computer programming, a data type is a classification identifying one of various types of data, such as floating-point, integer, or Boolean, that determines the possible values for that type; the operations that can be done on values of that type; the meaning of the data; and the way values of...
, for example, is represented in 32 bit
Bit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
s, in accord with the IEEE specification for single-precision floating point numbers. They will thus use floating-point-specific microprocessor operations
Instruction set
An instruction set, or instruction set architecture , is the part of the computer architecture related to programming, including the native data types, instructions, registers, addressing modes, memory architecture, interrupt and exception handling, and external I/O...
on those values (floating-point addition, multiplication, etc.).
The depth of type constraints and the manner of their evaluation affect the typing of the language. A programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
may further associate an operation with varying concrete algorithms on each type in the case of type polymorphism
Type polymorphism
In computer science, polymorphism is a programming language feature that allows values of different data types to be handled using a uniform interface. The concept of parametric polymorphism applies to both data types and functions...
. Type theory
Type theory
In mathematics, logic and computer science, type theory is any of several formal systems that can serve as alternatives to naive set theory, or the study of such formalisms in general...
is the study of type systems, although the concrete type systems of programming languages originate from practical issues of computer architecture, compiler implementation, and language design.
Type systems may be variously static or dynamic, strong or weak typing
Weak typing
In computer science, weak typing is a property attributed to the type systems of some programming languages. It is the opposite of strong typing, and consequently the term weak typing has as many different meanings as strong typing does.One of the more common definitions states that weakly typed...
, and so forth.
See also
- Data dictionaryData dictionaryA data dictionary, or metadata repository, as defined in the IBM Dictionary of Computing, is a "centralized repository of information about data such as meaning, relationships to other data, origin, usage, and format." The term may have one of several closely related meanings pertaining to...
- Functional programmingFunctional programmingIn computer science, functional programming is a programming paradigm that treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids state and mutable data. It emphasizes the application of functions, in contrast to the imperative programming style, which emphasizes changes in state...
- KindKind (type theory)In the area of mathematical logic and computer science known as type theory, a kind is the type of a type constructor or, less commonly, the type of a higher-order type operator...
- Type theoryType theoryIn mathematics, logic and computer science, type theory is any of several formal systems that can serve as alternatives to naive set theory, or the study of such formalisms in general...
for the mathematical models of types - Type systemType systemA type system associates a type with each computed value. By examining the flow of these values, a type system attempts to ensure or prove that no type errors can occur...
for different choices in programming language typing
Further reading
- Luca Cardelli, Peter Wegner. On Understanding Types, Data Abstraction, and Polymorphism, http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cardelli85understanding.html from Computing Surveys, (December, 1985)
- Various Data Types in C