Editing Delimiter (section)

{{short description|Characters that specify the boundary between regions in a data stream}}
{{hatnote|This article is about delimiters in computing. For delimiters in human use, see [[Word divider]] and [[digit grouping]].}}
[[File:Csv delimited000.svg|thumb|A stylistic depiction of values inside of a so-named [[comma-separated values]] (CSV) text file. The commas (shown in red) are used as field delimiters.|alt=]]

A '''delimiter''' is a sequence of one or more [[Character (computing)|character]]s for specifying the boundary between separate, independent regions in [[plain text]], [[Expression (mathematics)|mathematical expressions]] or other [[Data stream|data streams]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-011/_1544.htm |title=Definition: delimiter|work=Federal Standard 1037C - Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms |access-date=2019-11-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305032313/https://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-011/_1544.htm |archive-date=2013-03-05 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=What is a Delimiter?|url=https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/d/delimite.htm|access-date=2020-08-09|website=www.computerhope.com|language=en}}</ref> An example of a delimiter is the [[comma]] character, which acts as a ''field delimiter'' in a sequence of [[comma-separated values]]. Another example of a delimiter is the time gap used to separate letters and words in the transmission of [[Morse code]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024|reason=time gap is not a character}}

In [[mathematics]], delimiters are often used to specify the scope of an [[Operation (mathematics)|operation]], and can occur both as isolated symbols (e.g., [[Colon (punctuation)|colon]] in "<math>1 : 4</math>") and as a pair of opposing-looking symbols (e.g., [[Angled bracket|angled brackets]] in <math>\langle a, b \rangle</math>).

Delimiters represent one of various means of specifying boundaries in a [[data stream]]. [[String literal#Declarative notation|Declarative notation]], for example, is an alternate method (without the use of delimiters) that uses a length field at the start of a data stream to specify the number of characters that the data stream contains.<ref name="hollerity">{{cite book | last = Rohl | first = Jeffrey S. | title = Programming in Fortran | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford Oxfordshire | year = 1973 | isbn = 978-0-7190-0555-8 }} describing the method in Hollerith notation under the Fortran programming language.</ref>