What is a Variable?

I mean it varies. But what else? What is a constant?

Variables are vital for us in any modern programming language. But what exactly is a variable, and can we make an analogy for people reading this article? I say yes, on both counts.

Photo by Pankaj Patel on Unsplash

Difficulty: Beginner | Easy | Normal | Challenging

Prerequisites:

• None, but for practical purposes it would be useful to be able to produce a “Hello, World!” application in your chosen programming language

Terminology

Variable: A named value, that potentially can be changed as the program runs

Variable name: A label for a memory location

Data: Information processed or stored by a computer

Storage: A place where data can be stored

Program: A computer program is a set of instructions to perform a task on a computer

Reference: A pointer to a variable or object

Declaration: Announcing a variable (usually) at the beginning of a program

Naming convention: A set of rules about the names of variables

Value: The something that would be stored in a variable