Data Types

Welcome. 0:00 In this video, we will introduce you to several data types you may encounter in 0:01 your programming journey. 0:05 Consider the cabinets in your kitchen. 0:08 When I was growing up, the cabinet next to our refrigerator was only for 0:11 drinking glasses. 0:15 The one above the countertop was for canned foods. 0:16 The cabinet under the sink was for cleaning supplies. 0:20 Now, you would never think to store a drinking glass under the sink. 0:24 And I learned very quickly not to put the green beans in the cabinet next to 0:28 the fridge. 0:31 Think of these kitchen cabinets as data types. 0:34 Each data type is designated to store one specific type of data. 0:36 If you break the rule, well, you may get in trouble. 0:41 Some programming languages allow you to store data without first 0:45 identifying its type, like Python. 0:49 Some languages allow the data's type to change throughout the code, 0:51 such as JavaScript. 0:56 Other languages force the programmer to identify the data's type before using it. 0:58 I'm talking about you Java. 1:03 There are so many different data types, and 1:04 each programming language has its own rules on how to use them. 1:07 Regardless of the language, 1:12 you are likely to encounter one of these three data types. 1:14 The first is text. 1:18 It's a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. 1:20 For example, you can store my name, Richard, 1:24 my hometown, Roanoke, Virginia, or a complete sentence, 1:29 I can be reached at (540) 555-1234. 1:35 Next is numeric data. 1:41 The advantage of numeric data is that I can perform mathematical operations. 1:43 I can store whole numbers, the number of bones in the human body, 206 1:50 population of a city 102,345. 1:57 Numbers with a decimal point, Pi rounded to 4 decimal places, 3.1416 2:02 ounces of water in a liter, 33.8. 2:09 And even negative numbers, strokes under par in a golf tournament, -16 2:15 absolute zero in Celsius, -273.15. 2:21 Finally, I can store Boolean values. 2:26 A Boolean represents a truth value stored as a bit. 2:30 Remember that a bit can only be one of two values, true or false, 1 or 0. 2:34 1 means true, 0 means false. 2:41 Think of a light switch as on or off, or the answer to a question as yes or no. 2:45 Is the Nile River the longest river in the world? 2:52 Are you over 25 years of age? 2:55 Is today Friday? 2:58 As you write code, you determine how to store and use data in your program. 3:01 Don't worry, that's a discussion for another time. 3:05 In the next video, I give you a brief introduction to programming, stay tuned. 3:08

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