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What is Variable?

Web Development Jargons Explained in 4 Different Ways

TLDR: A variable is a temporary storage unit in a program. You can think of it as a box. You can use this box to hold an item. You can retrieve the item stored, or swap it with another item.


Explain like I only speak in plain English

A variable is a temporary storage unit in a program. You can think of it as a box. You can use this box to hold an item. We can retrieve the item stored, or swap it with another item any time we want.

We usually give names to variables. When we need to retrieve the item stored in a variable, we just call out the name of the variable. Variables are used very often to hold on to data temporarily in programs.

Explain like I'm a total nerd

In actual working, variables don't really keep values in it. Instead, variables store a reference link to the location of the values in memory. This gives rise to the occasion where multiple variables can reference the same value.

In most programming languages, the = assign operator is used to assign values to variables. We can use the = assign operator to change the value reference by a variable anytime we like.

In some programming languages, variables also have to be associated with a particular value type. Once this has been set, a variable can only reference values of that particular type. Such as either numbers, or strings.

Explain like I like videos

Explain like I already know it

The most difficult aspect about using variables is naming. Names need to reflect the meaning of the information the variables hold and must be easy to understand by peers.

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