elementary data type

In most programming languages, the programmer can introduce variables at will and fill them with data. These can be compound or elementary types of data.

Variables with elementary data type are characterized by the fact that they can hold exactly one value. Depending on the data type, they can be integers, floating pointnumbers, strings or Boolean values, for example. For numeric values, the data type also determines lower and upper limits.

Compilers and runtime environments can use this information to guarantee type safety before or during the execution of a program. It is then ensured that variables are only assigned data corresponding to their type.