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Software Engineering vocabulary · Programming Concepts

Variable

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/ˈveriəbəl/nounCore term

In software engineering, variable means: A name in a program that stores a value, such as a number, text or list, so that the code can use or change that value later.

In Turkish: değişken

How it is used

You declare, assign, rename and pass variables. Reviewers often comment on names: 'Can we give this variable a clearer name than x?' 'Environment variables' hold settings outside the code.

Example sentences

  1. Rename this variable to retryCount so it's clear what it holds.

  2. The API key is stored in an environment variable, not in the code.

Common collocations

  • declare a variable
  • environment variable
  • local variable
  • global variable
  • variable name
  • functionA named block of code that does one job. It can take input values, and it often returns a result to the code that called it.
  • hard-codedWritten directly into the source code instead of coming from settings, a database or user input, so it cannot change without editing the code.
  • parameterA named input that a function or method accepts, listed in its definition. The actual value you pass in when you call it is called the argument.
  • classIn object-oriented programming, a template that defines the data and behavior of a type of object, such as a User or an Invoice.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Programming Concepts

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