Data (computing)

In computing, data (/ˈdeɪtə/ day-tə, /ˈdætə/ da-tə, or /ˈdɑːtə/ dah-tə; treated as singular, plural, or as a mass noun) is any sequence of symbols giving meaning by specific acts of interpretation.

For more general usage of the term, see Data.

Digital data

Digital data is the quantities, characters, or symbols on which operations are performed by a computer, stored and recorded on magnetic, optical, or mechanical recording media, and transmitted in the form of electrical signals.

Computer program

A computer program is a set of data that consists of a series of coded software instructions to control the operation of a computer or other machine.

Physical computer memory elements consist of an address and a byte/word of data storage. Digital data are often stored in relational databases, like tables or SQL databases, and can generally be represented as abstract key/value pairs.

Data structures

Data can be organized in many different types of Data structure|data structures]], including:

• Arrays
• Graphs
• Objects

Data structures can store data of many different types, including:

• Numbers
• Strings
• Other data structures

Peripherals devices

Data pass in and out of computers via peripheral devices.

Other uses of the term data

In an alternate usage, binary files (which are not human-readable) are sometimes called "data" as distinguished from human-readable "text".

See also

• Attribute–value pair
• Computer data storage
• Computer science
• Computation
• Computing
• Data - general usage
• Data analysis
• Database
• Data ecosystem
• Data stream
• Data structure
• Data transmission
• Data type
• Floating point
• Information
• Name binding
• Relational database

External links

• Data (computing) @ Wikipedia