If you have been programming, you are most likely familiar with Variable Declaration in Programming.
In computer programming, variable declaration is used to create a memory location That holds a specific kind of data value.
In this article today, we are going to learn – how does Variable Declaration affect Memory.
Table of Content
- What is a Variable ?
- What is meant by Variable Declaration ?
- How does Variable Declaration affect computer Memory ?
- Variable Declaration affects Memory (Things to Consider)
- Why does Variable Declaration affect Memory ?
Note: You can jump to the specific section by clicking on above LINKS. Also, don’t forget to let us know your thoughts at the end of this write-up.
Introduction to Variable in Computer Programming
In computer programming, a variable refers to a small computer memory location which is used to store data.
A variable has a name and data type, meaning That a name is used to call a variable. On the other hand, the data type of a variable shows whether or not a variable is able to store a particular type of data value.
What is Variable Declaration ?
What is Variable Declaration in Programming ?
In simple words, when you create or declare a variable, this process is known as Variable Declaration.
The process of variable declaration consists of naming a variable, as well as defining its type.
Once you name a variable, you can mention the name to call the particular variable. Similarly, according to the type of variable, you can store particular type of data in variables.
How does Variable Declaration affect Memory ?
Variable Declaration affects Memory as defining variables allocate memory space based on variable type. The types and range of variables affect memory allocation, such as Integer occupies 32 Bits of memory. If values are not supplied, the Compiler may assign default memory to a variable. Conversely, defining, changing, or accessing a variable may also affect its memory allocation.
Variable Declaration affects Memory (Things to Consider)
Variables as Storage slots
In programming sense, memory refers to a space or accessible address That helps compiler store and access data. As variables are primarily used to store data values, such as Integer or Text values, variable declaration reserves a fix amount of computer storage’s memory.
Variables may have default data values
In some cases, you can also read and print a variable’s default value. It happens when you have declared a variable but have not assigned a value to the particular variable.
In this case, the Compiler automatically assigns a default value to the particular variable. In simple words, if you don’t assign a value to a newly created variable, it may still hold its default value.
Thus showing That variable declaration affects memory in some way. However, once you have assigned a value to a newly created variable, the default value is overwritten and thus, the compiler may change its memory allocation as well.
Variable Declaration Process suggests Memory allocation
Variable Declaration has two parts, Declaration and Defining part. The declaration part refers to allocating computer memory for a variable whereas the defining part consists of assigning a value to a variable.
In simple words, it is the declaration part of variable declaration That affects memory in computer programming.
Scope of Variable
In some cases, you can also define the scope or range of a variable so it will holds more data. If you define the range or scope of a variable while declaring the variable, this significantly affects computer memory as defining variables with a high range occupies more space to store more data as compared to a normal variable.
Variable Declaration in different Environments
Variable Declaration also affects memory differently in different environments. For example, in a 16 or 32 Bits environment, variable declaration of a single (same) data type may allocate different sized memory.
Variable Declaration in different Programming Languages
Variable Declaration can differently affect memory in different programming languages. For example, variable declaration in C++ may have different terms on memory as compared to Java.
Variables may have TYPES
Different types of variables of a single variable type may also have different affects on computer memory. For example, there are many types of an Integer variable, such as Short or Long Integer variables. In this case, SHORT Integer variables may occupy less memory as compared to a LONG Integer variable.
Programming status of a Variable
Change of a variable’s type, status, or value may also affect computer memory allocation. For example, if you create, edit, or terminate a variable, it may also affect the particular variable’s memory allocation as compared to its initial status.
Programming Flow can also affect variables’ memory allocation. For example, if your code’s workflow(s) consist of mathematical operations, it may increase of decrease a variable’s memory allocation.
Variable placement
Technically, variable placement can also affect memory allocation of a variable. For example, if you declare a Global variable which is accessible by all functions, it may affect memory in a different manner as compared to a Local variable.
Modern programming languages assign memory space to a variable only when necessary. For example, a variable may only affect memory allocation when declared, executed, or called by a specific function.
Variables manage Memory
Automatic Memory Management of variables also affect memory allocation in programming. For example, compiler keeps allocating memory for a specific variable as long as the variable is necessary.
On the other hand, the variable is killed once it becomes useless during programming or once it has been properly executed. Similarly, assigning memory size manually to a variable also affects memory allocation during a variable’s life cycle.
Why does Variable Declaration affect Memory ?
It is obvious That variable declaration will affect memory because it deals with memory allocation to store data values.
Also, being a computer programmer, you can use variable declaration for direct or indirect memory management. In this case, you will be creating variables and accessing them with functions and pointers.
Some scenarios can also allocate or store data values in a virtual storage like RAM. This often happens in temporary processing routines.
Final Thoughts
So, How does Variable Declaration affect Memory allocation ?
You may have heard about operational memory of a software. It is what different variables consume computer memory while execution of a program.
As variables mainly deal with memory management, in order to store and access data, variable declaration is obvious to affect computer memory.
On the other hand, user defined functions and pointers are used to create and manage variables data with source codes. Having such evidences, affection of variable declaration on memory needs no clarification.