Variables, Constants and Literals in C

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In this tutorial, you will learn about variables and rules for naming a variable. You will also learn about different literals in C programming and how to create constants.

Variables

In programming, a variable is a container (storage area) to hold data.
To indicate the storage area, each variable should be given a unique name (identifier). Variable names are just the symbolic representation of a memory location. For example:
int playerScore = 95;
Here, playerScore is a variable of int type. Here, the variable is assigned an integer value 95.

Literals

Literals are data used for representing fixed values. They can be used directly in the code. For example: 12.5'c' etc.
Here, 12.5 and 'c' are literals. Why? You cannot assign different values to these terms.

Constants

If you want to define a variable whose value cannot be changed, you can use the const keyword. This will create a constant. For example,
const double PI = 3.14;
Notice, we have added keyword const.
Here, PI is a symbolic constant; its value cannot be changed.
const double PI = 3.14;
PI = 2.9; //Error

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