Data (computing) - Citizendia

For other uses, see Data (disambiguation).

1 Data vs programs
2 References
3 See also

In computer science, data is anything in a form suitable for use with a computer^[1]. Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. Data is often distinguished from programs. Computer programs (also software programs, or just programs) are instructions for a Computer. A program is a set of instructions that detail a task for the computer to perform. In Computer science, an instruction is a single operation of a processor defined by an Instruction set architecture. In this sense, data is thus everything that is not program code^[2]. In Computer science, source code (commonly just source or code) is any sequence of statements or declarations written in some Human-readable

In an alternate usage, binary files (which are not human-readable) are sometimes called "data", as distinguished from human-readable "text" ^[3]. A text file (sometimes spelled "textfile" is a kind of Computer file that is structured as a sequence of lines. The total amount of digital data in 2007 was estimated to be 281 billion gigabytes. A gigabyte (derived from the SI prefix Giga-) is a unit of Information or Computer ^[4]^[5]

Data vs programs

Fundamentally, computers follow the instructions they are given. A set of instructions to perform a given task (or tasks) is called a "program". Computer programs (also software programs, or just programs) are instructions for a Computer. In the nominal case, the program, as executed by the computer, will consist of binary machine code. Execution in computer and Software engineering is the process by which a Computer or Virtual computer carries out the instructions Machine code or machine language is a system of instructions and data executed directly by a Computer 's Central processing unit. The elements of storage manipulated by the program, but not actually executed by the CPU, contain data. Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to Computer components devices and recording media that retain digital

Typically, different files are used to store programs vs data. A computer file is a block of Arbitrary Information, or resource for storing information which is available to a Computer program and is usually Executable files contain programs; all other files are data files. In Computing, an executable (file causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instructions," as opposed to a file that only contains A data file is a Computer file which stores data for use by a computer application or system. However, executable files may also contain data which is "built-in" to the program. In particular, some executable files have a data segment, which nominally contains constants and initial values (both data). A data segment is one of the sections of a program in an Object file or in memory which contains the Global variables that are initialized by the Programmer

For example: A user might first instruct the operating system to load a word processor program from one file, and then edit a document stored in another file. Users in a Computing context refers to one who uses a computer system An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination A document file format is a text or binary file format for storing Documents on a storage media, especially for use by Computers In this example, the document would be considered data. If the word processor also features a spell checker, then the dictionary (word list) for the spell checker would also be considered data. In Computing, a spell checker is an applications program that flags words in a document that may not be spelled correctly The algorithms used by the spell checker to suggest corrections would be considered code. In Mathematics, Computing, Linguistics and related subjects an algorithm is a sequence of finite instructions often used for Calculation In Computer science, source code (commonly just source or code) is any sequence of statements or declarations written in some Human-readable

The line between program and data can become blurry. An interpreter, for example, is a program. In Computer science, an interpreter normally means a Computer program that executes, i The input data to an interpreter is itself a program -- just not one expressed in native machine language. Input is the term denoting either an entrance or changes which are inserted into a System and which activate/modify a Process. Machine code or machine language is a system of instructions and data executed directly by a Computer 's Central processing unit. In many cases, the interpreted program will be a human-readable text file, which is manipulated with a text editor -- more normally associated with plain text data. A text file (sometimes spelled "textfile" is a kind of Computer file that is structured as a sequence of lines. A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain Text files Text editors are often provided with Operating systems or software development In Computing, plain text is a term used for an ordinary "unformatted" sequential file readable as textual material without much processing

References

^ data. American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Retrieved on 2007-03-19. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China.
^ data. Webopedia. Retrieved on 2007-03-19. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China.
^ file(1). OpenBSD Manual Pages (2004-12-04). "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Retrieved on 2007-03-19. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China.
^ Paul, Ryan. "Study: amount of digital info > global storage capacity", Ars Technica, March 12, 2008. Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Retrieved on 2008-03-12. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving
^ Gantz, John F. et al. (2008). The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe. International Data Corporation via EMC. Retrieved on 2008-03-12. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving

Contents

Data vs programs

References

See also