Fundamental Symbols Utilized in Programming/Coding: Unlocking the Code

Programming/Coding (Credit: Pixabay)

Programming/coding cannot and will never be separated from the use of symbols which in technology are primitive data types whose instances have an incomparable human-readable form and can be used as identifiers that have a particular usefulness for each character. From the humble semicolon to the enigmatic curly braces, each symbol plays a crucial role in communicating instructions to computers. Usually there are several symbols that are used in programming/coding but in this blog post article you will find the most important symbols;

1. CURLY BRACES {} - they are used to group declarations and statements whereby they come in functions, if statements, switch statements, a loop (for, do/while & while) and conditional statements but most importantly, it should be noted that moving braces one or two lines off will always strikingly alter the significance of the program.

2. SEMICOLON ; - it usually lets the compiler be aware that it has gotten to the end of the a particular statement or command.

3. BRACKETS OR PARENTHESES () - they are used to moderate the order of operations that are in an expression and to render pr-enclose parameters to a particular function.

4. NOT EQUAL TO != - it is used to check whether the values of two operands are equal to each other or not and if the values turn out to be not equal, then the condition is always TRUE and vice versa.

5. SINGLE QUOTES OR DOUBLE QUOTES ‘’ OR ”” - both of them have the same meaning or use whereby they are used to inform that one is penning characters instantly into the program or code but it is also important to note that the only demerit of a single quote is that it is not supported by JSON.

6. DOUBLE EQUAL TO/IS EQUAL TO == - usually used to check whether the values of two operands are equal or not equal and if the values turn out to be equal, then the condition is always TRUE and vice versa.

7. MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS +, -, * , / & % - these symbols or operators are used to perform arithmetic or mathematical operations and their uses are as follows;

• + it is used for addition.

• - it is used for subtraction.

• * it is used for multiplication.

• / it is used for division.

• % it is used for modulus (gives the remainder of an integer division).

8. EQUAL/EQUAL TO = - it is usually used to allot values to a variable.

9. SQUARE BRACKETS [] - they are used to specify the use of or index elements in an array and strings.

In conclusion, it is evident fro the article that each and every symbol carries meaning and precision hence is paramount whether one is a seasoned developer or a curious beginner, this sheds light on the language of computers and demystify the symbols that shape our digital world.