CMPF134

Chapter 5 – Data Type

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 Chapter Objectives
◦ To be exposed to five basic types of data used in
computing world, especially programming
◦ To be able to differentiate the characteristics of each
data type
◦ To be able to provide appropriate examples for each
data type

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 Introduction
◦ It is easy for humans to distinguish between different types
of data. We can usually tell at a glance whether a number is a
percentage, a time, or an amount of money
◦ Unlike humans, a computer does not know the difference
between 1234, 12.34 and 12.34%
◦ Therefore, we usually need to tell the computer what type of
data it is. This is because the computer stores and processes
different types of data in different ways
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 Introduction (Cont.)
◦ In computer science, data types are closely related to variable
◦ A variable is a named location in memory where data can be stored
◦ Each variable should be given a well-defined type by the
programmer so that only data of the correct type are allowed to be
stored in that location
◦ Why do we need to define different variables’ data type?
◦ Different data types require varying amounts of memory storage allocation
◦ Different data types perform different computer operations
◦ Only accurate values are allowed to be stored in each respective variable
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 Introduction (Cont.)
◦ A data type in programming language refers to a set
of data with values having predefined characteristics. In other
words, it refers to the set of values that data of that type can
have
◦ Some programming languages require the programmer to
define the data type of a variable before assigning it a value
(example: C)
◦ Other languages can automatically assign a variable's data type
when the initial data is entered into the variable (example:
Python)
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 Basic Data Types
Five common data types are:
◦ Integer
◦ Floating point
◦ Boolean
◦ Character
◦ Alphanumeric string

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 Integer
◦ It is a sequence of digits, without spaces or thousand separators
(normally in decimal form)
◦ It can be either positive, negative or zero
◦ It is also known as whole number (number with no fractional or
decimal portion)
◦ Some programming languages allow alternative integer
notation, such as: hexadecimal (example: 0x2348, 0x978) or
octal (example: 032, 05732)
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 Integer (Cont.)
◦ Examples of valid integer values:
1. 988
2. -357
3. 48
◦ Examples of invalid integer values:
1. 1, 827
2. -17.35
3. $48

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 Integer Size
◦ In mathematic, number starts from 0, 1, 2,3…. and the list keeps
on going infinitely
◦ In a computer, only a finite portion of these numbers can be
represented and it depends on the size of memory allocated for
this number
◦ In general, a variable will be allocated with a memory size of 4
Bytes (32 bits), when it is declared with integer data type

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 Integer Size (Cont.)
◦ The range of integer values accepted in a variable depends on
the number of bits (n) that has been allocated for it:
 Maximum integer value, max_int = (2n−1)−1
 Minimum integer value, min_int = −(2n−1)
◦ So, all integer variable (let’s say X) should carry the value
within the range of max_int >= X >= min_int, or we will
get error called “Overflow” (integer value too big) or
“Underflow” (integer value too small)
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 Exercise 1
Identify the maximum and minimum integer values allowed for a
variable with the word size of 4 bits.

Solution:
Given n = 4, therefore:
◦ max_int = (2n−1)−1 = (24−1) – 1 = 23 – 1 = 7
◦ min_int = −(2n−1) = −(24−1) = −(23) = -8

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 Exercise 2
What would be the accepted integer value range for a variable, P,
with 2 Bytes word length?

Solution:
Given n = 16 (2 Bytes * 8), therefore:
◦ max_int = (2n−1)−1 = (216−1) – 1 = 215 – 1 = 32767
◦ min_int = −(2n−1) = −(216−1) = −(215) = -32768
◦ Integer value range:
◦ max_int >= P >= min_int
◦ 32767 >= P >= -32768
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 Floating Point
◦ It is used to represent real numbers (a number that can contain
a fractional part), example: 0.0357
◦ Floating-point numbers can also be expressed in scientific
notation, example: 3.57 x 10-2 @ 3.57e-2
◦ The value before the letter e is known as the mantissa (3.57)
◦ whereas the value after letter e is called the exponent (-2). It can be
preceded by an optional plus or minus sign, represents the power of 10
by which the mantissa is to be multiplied

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Parts of a Floating Point Number
Location of
decimal point

-3.257 x 10 -3
Exponent

Sign of Mantissa Sign of exponent

mantissa

Base

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 Floating Point (Cont.)
◦ The term floating point is derived from the fact that there is no
fixed number of digits before and after the decimal point; that is,
the decimal point can float
◦ Example: 0.0357 = 0.357 x 10-1 = 3.57 x 10-2 = 35.7 x 10-3
◦ IEEE754 standard: Most common standard for representing
floating point numbers in computer (you will learn in more
detailed in degree course)

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 Floating Point (Cont.)
◦ Examples of valid floating point numbers:
1. 12.58
2. 357.13
3. 0.48
4. 0.058
5. 5.8 x 10-2

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 Boolean
◦ Named after George Boole (1815-1864), who invented
mathematical logic and defined Boolean algebra
◦ Variables of bool type can take only one of two possible values:
true (True, TRUE, 1) or false (False, FALSE, 0)
◦ Example:
 result = True
 final_decision = 1

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 Boolean (Cont.)
◦ This data type is used for simple flags that track true or false
conditions (example: in selection control structure and repetition
control structure)
◦ example:

if age >= 55 then while number <> 5 then

print “Retired” print number
else else
print “Go back to work!!” print “Bye-bye”

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 Boolean (Cont.)
◦ It is also used to represent true and false values returned by
Boolean expressions which use either relational operators or
logical operators

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 Relational Operator
Operator Computer Example of Operation Boolean Value
Symbol

Equal to == 3 == 7 False

Less than < 3<7 True

Greater than > 3>7 False

Lesser than or equal to <= 3 <= 7 True

Greater than or equal to >= 3 >= 7 False

Not equal to <> , != 3 <> 7 , 3 != 7 True

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 Logical Operator
Operator Computer Example of Operation Boolean Value
Symbol

Not not , ! not True False

Hierarchy of
And and , && True && False False
operation
Or or , || True or False True

Depends on type of programming language

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 Exercise 3
Evaluate the Boolean value of variable R. Given the values A = 5,
B = 2, C = True, D = False.
1. R = A > B && C || D
2. R = A <> B or not C and D
3. R = !(B <= A) && C || D
4. R = not(B != A) or C and D

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 Character
◦ This data type is used when we want a variable which can store
letters, digits, punctuation marks, blank space and control
characters
◦ Control character: a character that does not represent a printable character
but serves to initiate a particular action
◦ Every character is represented by a computer code (integer
number), such as:
◦ American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) – represents a
character in 8 bits form
◦ Unicode - represents a character in 16 bits form
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 Character (Cont.)
◦ A character type data is usually enclosed by single quotes (again, it
depends on programming language’s syntax)
◦ Example :
item_code = ‘A’
◦ Data value of this type cannot be used in mathematical calculations
◦ Example of valid character data :
1. ‘6’
2. ‘A’
3. ‘*’

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 Alphanumeric String
◦ In computer science, an alphanumeric string is any finite
sequence of characters (i.e., letters, numerals, symbols,
punctuation marks and spaces)
◦ A string will contain more than one character and they are usually
written in between a pair of double quote (“ ”)
◦ String data is stored in memory in the form of arrays
◦ While storing string data, one extra null character ‘\0’ is always
attached at the end of data. Therefore, if a 5 character string data
is stored in memory, 6 spaces will be occupied
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 Alphanumeric String (Cont.)
◦ Example of valid alphanumeric string data:
1. “I am having so much fun learning CMPF134!!”
2. “$125.50”
3. “AT92485”

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 Exercise 4
Identify the suitability of data type assigned to each variable
below. Support your answer with proper justification.
1. my_result = “True” data type = Boolean
2. my_score = 3.00 data type = integer
3. total_student = 1,358 data type = integer
4. price_code = ‘A’ data type = string
5. final_result = False data type = string
6. phone_number = 0123456789 data type = integer
7. favourite_number = ‘8’ data type = integer
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