Feb
27
Variables are named storage locations whose values can be manipulated during the execution of program i.e., during the program-run.
Data types are means to identify the type of data and associated operations with it.
Categories of Data Types
In VB, we can divide the data types in two major categories:
- Numeric Data Types
- Non-Numeric Data Types
1. Numeric Data Types:
Numeric data are the data that consists of numbers, which can be used in calculations. In VB, the numeric data can be represented in seven ways through following seven data types.
| Type | Storage |
| Byte | 1 byte |
| Integer | 2 bytes |
| Long | 4 bytes |
| Single | 4 bytes |
| Double | 8 bytes |
| Currency | 8 bytes |
| Decimal | 12 bytes |
2. Non-Numeric Data Types:
Non-numeric data values are those that cannot participate in calculations e.g., a string or a true value or a stored form etc. There are basically five (5) non-numeric data types in VB but two of these data types can further divided into two subtypes. Thus, the following table lists these seven non-numeric data types
| Type | Storage |
| String (fixed length) | Length of string |
| String (variable length) | Length + 10 bytes |
| Date | 8 bytes |
| Boolean | 2 bytes |
| Object | 4 bytes |
| Variant (numeric) | 16 bytes |
| Variant (text) | Length + 22 bytes |
The size of a fixed length string remains the same as declared, regardless of the information stored in it. However, variable length strings take the size equals to the number of characters assigned to it plus 10 bytes.