Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
In programming, a value refers to any piece of data that can be stored or manipulated by a program. It represents information such as numbers, characters, or boolean values.
A data type specifies what kind of information can be stored in a variable or returned by a method. Examples include int (integer), char (character), and boolean (true/false).
A variable is a named storage location in a program's memory that can hold a value of a specific data type. It allows you to store and manipulate data throughout the execution of your program.
Primitive Type: A primitive type is a basic data type provided by Java, such as int, char, or boolean. They are not objects and do not have methods associated with them.