IPA: [vaʀiˈaːblə]
die Variable (pl. -n) – variable
Definition from Wiktionary: Bezeichnung eines Speicherplatzes, der verschiedene Werte aufnehmen kann. (Name of a memory location, which can take on different values.)
I was talking to a friend today over dinner about computer science. She would be taking a course in CS next semester as part of her course programme in university. Our discussion was a random one, and eventually I showed her an app on my phone that I downloaded for fun that taught basic programming.
One of the things she asked me was, “What is a variable?”
I realised that I couldn’t really describe it well.
I explained what you would do with it, like how you could assign a value to it. I alluded to how in Math, specifically algebra, you also had variables, like x = 5.
Then, I said that you could work with the variables instead of the number (value) all the time.
When we name the variable, it also makes it easier to understand its purpose in the program.
So, a variable is something that is used to store information, which then can be easily referenced and manipulated.
Leave a Reply