Computer Data Types

¶ … computer programmers create programing languages, they must make use of data types to create a functional system. A number of different formats of data types exist for their use. Perhaps the most obvious is that of an alphanumeric string, or a string of letters and numbers like ab1cd1. "Alphanumeric is commonly used to help explain the availability of text that can be entered or used in a field such as a password" ("Alphanumeric string," 2014).

In contrast, Boolean data types make use of words like and, or, and not, to filter information, expressing notions of true and false. "A user can use Boolean searches to help locate more exact matches in Internet searches. For example, a user could search for computers help and DOS, which would search for any document containing computer help that also contain the word DOS. Performing Boolean searches often help users find results relating more to what the user may need to find" ("Boolean," 2014). Characters are also classified as data types.

Quite simply, a character is "a single visual object used to represent text, numbers, or symbols" such as the letter a ("Character," 2014). Characters may be contrasted with integers, which are singular numerical representations of texts, numbers, and/or symbols. Integers must be whole numbers although they can be positive or negative; real numbers, in contrast, can be fractions. "Any number that you could place on a number line is a real number. Real numbers include whole numbers (integers) and numbers with decimal/fractional parts.

Real numbers can be positive or negative" ("Data types," 2014). Percentages, in contrast, are also partial numbers but are represented by a percentage sign. Currency symbols automatically format the text to have a symbol such as a dollar, pound, or Euro sign in front of them (such as when constructing a form for an online catalog) ("Data types," 2014). Date/time data formats demand the user type in data according to a specific format so that dates and times which do not exist cannot be recorded ("Data types," 2014).

However, it is important to note that telephone numbers cannot be automatically formatted as a numeric, but because "all telephone numbers start with a 0 and you can't put a 0 in front of a 'number' datatype, so telephone number needs to be set as a 'text' datatype" ("Data types," 2014). Phone numbers also often have parentheses and dashes between numbers, which strictly numerical data cannot have. A final data type is a floating point number in which the decimal point can be moved without having a fixed point.

"For example, a floating-point number could have the decimal be at any position, as in the numbers 1.23, 87.425, 9039454.2" ("Floating point," 2014). Floating numbers, in contrast to integers and exact numeric are classified as approximate numerics. All of these data types must be regarded as tools in a programmer's toolkit of devices to create effective input systems. "When we are presented with data to be input into a computer system, we must analyse it and select appropriate data types for each value" ("Different data types," 2014).

The needs of the system will dictate the use of the different data types. A capable programmer can create anything from a simple form requiring an individual's address, phone.