datatypen

Datatypen are formal descriptions of the kinds of values that a variable can hold and the operations that can be performed on those values. In most programming languages they define the set of permissible values, the memory footprint, the range or precision, and rules for storage and conversion. Datatypen help ensure correctness by enabling type checking and by guiding how data is represented and manipulated.

Datatypen are typically divided into primitive (basic) types such as integers, floating-point numbers, booleans, and characters, and composite or structured types such as strings, arrays, records or structs, lists, sets, and maps. Some languages treat strings as a separate primitive type, while others implement them as sequences of characters. Fixed-size types have a defined storage width and range, whereas variable-size types may adapt to the data they store.

Typing discipline describes how strictly a language enforces types. Static typing checks types at compile time, dynamic typing checks at run time. Strong typing protects against certain implicit conversions, while weak typing allows more coercion. Implicit (inferred) versus explicit (written by the programmer) type conversion affects code readability and risk of errors.

Choosing datatypen influences memory usage, performance, and correctness. It affects range, precision, overflow behavior, and operations available for a value. In addition to language-native types, many ecosystems support user-defined or aliasing capabilities (enums, records, or complex schemas), enabling domain-specific representations while preserving type safety.

Across domains, datatypen also appear in databases and serialization formats, where they define how data is stored, indexed, and transmitted.