Data Types

Syllabus Detail

  • Character, number, date/time, currency, text/string, Boolean (true/false). 11 ATAR, 12 GEN

 

Background

  • A data type lets a computer system know how to deal with each piece of given information
  • It applies certain rules and functions when dealing with specific data types
  • Each data type contains a different range of values and boundaries
  • Data types allow us to keep clean, organised and effective databases

 

Common Data Types

 

Data Type  Description
Character

Contains a single value of a number, letter or symbol
Multiple characters are used to form strings
Characters have a fixed value of one

Number

Stored fixed and floating point data types.
Range: ±1 x 10-130 to ±9.99...9 x 10125 with up to 38 significant digits
Date / Time Date: stores the year, month and day values
Time: stores the hours, minutes and second values
Timestamps generally reference the beginning from Jan 1st, 1970. See if you can find out why!

Currency

Used to store data that is used for monetary values or financial calculations
Contains the numeric value plus the localised currency symbol

Text / String

 Used to store an ordered set of symbols
A string contains multiple characters

Boolean (True / False)

 Used to define a true / false statement
This can also be thought of as on / off
Often used as FLAGS for developers

 

Further Research

  1. Read more about data types across different SQL programs here
  2. Read more about data types in programming here
  3. Read more from IGCSE ICT here
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