Editing Field (computer science) (section)

== Memory fields ==
Fields may be stored in [[random access memory]] (RAM). The following [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] record definition has three field identifiers: firstName, lastName, and age. The two name fields have a datatype of an [[Array (data structure)|array]] of [[Character (computing)|character]]. The age field has a datatype of [[integer]].
<syntaxhighlight lang="pascal">
type PersonRecord =
    record
        lastName : array [ 1 .. 20 ] of Char;
        firstName : array [ 1 .. 20 ] of Char;
        age : Integer
    end;
</syntaxhighlight>

In Pascal, the identifier component precedes a colon, and the datatype component follows the colon. Once a record is defined, [[Instance variable|variables]] of the record can be [[Instance (computer science)|allocated]]. Once the memory of the record is allocated, a field can be accessed like a variable by using the dot notation.
<syntaxhighlight lang="pascal">
var alice : PersonRecord;
alice.firstName := 'Alice';
</syntaxhighlight>

The term ''field'' has been replaced with the terms ''data member''<ref name="stroustrup-p450">{{cite book
  | last = Stroustrup
  | first = Bjarne
  | title = The C++ Programming Language, Fourth Edition
  | publisher = Addison-Wesley
  | year = 2013
  | page = 450
  | isbn = 978-0-321-56384-2
}}</ref> and ''attribute''.<ref name="cpl_p104">{{cite book
  | last1 = Wilson
  | first1 = Leslie B.
  | last2 = Clark
  | first2 = Robert G.
  | title = Comparative Programming Languages, Third Edition
  | publisher = Addison-Wesley
  | year = 2001
  | page = 104
  | isbn = 0-201-71012-9
}}</ref> The following [[java (programming language)|Java]] [[Class (computer programming)|class]] has three attributes: firstName, lastName, and age.
<syntaxhighlight lang="java">
public class PersonRecord
{
	private String firstName;
	private String lastName;
	private int age;
}
</syntaxhighlight>