View Source: Variable - Waikato Linux Users Group

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In a ProgrammingLanguage a variable is a name potentially associated with a value in the context of the SourceCode.

In the (meaningless) [C]/[C++] code:
  __int__ ''blarg''() {
     __char__ ''c'' = 'a';
     __int__ ''count'' = 12;
     __int__ ''i'';
     for (__int__ ''i''=0 ; ''i'' < ''count'' ; ''i''++)
       ''c''++;
     return (__int__) ''c'';
  }

c, count and i are variables. i is a variable which is initially undefined (called unbound in some languages). In [C] and [C++] function definitions are not variables, although they are in [Lisp] and [Scheme]. In pure functional programming and some contexts in other languages (like const variables in [C]/[C++]) variables cannot be changed.

Names associated with values in data (for example [HashTable]s) are not considered variables because they are not in the context of SourceCode.

See also: MetaSyntacticVariable, [Foo]

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Last edited on Sunday, March 7, 2004 9:28:13 am by AristotlePagaltzis

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