With the development of computer technology, the concept of data organization and its role has constantly changed. A computer has the ability to store large amounts of information and manage it. Since the individual properties of the data are ignored during their use due to their uselessness, the data itself seems to us a kind of abstract piece of reality. For example, we have a list of students' performance at a school, we select a student from the list, his class will be written next to him, as well as an assessment, his habits or eye color will almost certainly not be indicated there. This also happens with data on the computer. In any situation, you need to choose a lot of data that are of real benefit to us. Then you need to choose a way to present this data, and this will depend on the capabilities of your software and computer.
Nowadays, there are different types of data. Given the constant progress in computer technology, now you can use both ordinary unstructured data and the most complex types obtained by combining the simplest data.
Let's consider in more detail data types. In mathematics, it is customary to classify various quantities by type, the same thing happens in programming. Each function, variable, constant, or expression is of a particular type. What are simple data types? Firstly, these are integers over which ordinary operations can be performed, such as: addition, division, etc. Unlike integers in arithmetic, integers in computer science have their own range. Secondly, these are real numbers over which the same operations can be performed, but their accuracy will not exceed a separate fixed value. Thirdly, it is symbolic data that is ordered and has its own numeric code. Fourth, these are string quantities for which only the addition operation is feasible. Fifth, these are logical data types that take the values “true” and “false”, true and false, respectively. And finally, these are user types, which, for example, can include letters and numbers in a specific user range.
The above data types, called simple, can be easily recognized, since they fulfill the condition: 1 name - 1 value. Now we will understand what structured data types are. They are determined by the program developer. It is clear that actions are limited by the capabilities of one or another programming language, and in different languages the structuring possibilities do not coincide, but many of the structures are standardly implemented in almost all programming languages. Such data types are classified according to separate features: ordered - disordered, homogeneous - heterogeneous, static - dynamic, direct access - sequential access. These signs are opposite only inside the pair, and outside it can be combined. This includes records, files, sets, arrays, stacks, and hierarchical data organization . In some cases, the programmer can set dynamic data structures, and the memory for their storage is allocated directly in the process of the program.
Nowadays, object-oriented programming has become widespread , which completely eliminated the conflict between data and the program. As we have already seen, there are various types of data, the use of which depends only on the current situation and the desires of the person himself. You can perform various operations with data; they have their own units of representation and units of measurement. But the main thing is that without them we wouldn’t be sitting at the computer now, and the technology would just stand still.