Editing String (computer science) (section)

{{Short description|Sequence of characters, data type}}
[[File:String example.png|alt=Diagram of String data in computing. Shows the word "example" with each letter in a separate box. The word "String" is above, referring to the entire sentence. The label "Character" is below and points to an individual box.|thumb|Strings are typically made up of [[character (computing)|characters]], and are often used to store human-readable data, such as words or sentences.]]

In [[computer programming]], a '''string''' is traditionally a [[sequence]] of [[character (computing)|characters]], either as a [[literal (computer programming)|literal constant]] or as some kind of [[Variable (computer science)|variable]]. The latter may allow its elements to be [[Immutable object|mutated]] and the length changed, or it may be fixed (after creation). A string is often implemented as an [[array data structure]] of [[byte]]s (or [[word (computer architecture)|word]]s) that stores a sequence of elements, typically characters, using some [[character encoding]]. More general, ''string'' may also denote a sequence (or [[List (abstract data type)|list]]) of data other than just characters.

Depending on the programming language and precise data type used, a [[variable (programming)|variable]] declared to be a string may either cause storage in memory to be statically allocated for a predetermined maximum length or employ [[dynamic allocation]] to allow it to hold a variable number of elements.

When a string appears literally in [[source code]], it is known as a [[string literal]] or an anonymous string.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~fineberg/mfc158/week10lecture.htm|title=Introduction To Java – MFC 158 G|quote=String literals (or constants) are called ‘anonymous strings’|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233357/http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~fineberg/mfc158/week10lecture.htm|archive-date=2016-03-03}}</ref>

In [[formal language]]s, which are used in [[mathematical logic]] and [[theoretical computer science]], a string is a finite sequence of [[symbol (formal)|symbol]]s that are chosen from a [[set (mathematics)|set]] called an [[alphabet (computer science)|alphabet]].