Question

What is a string? What is a string literal?

Short answer

Answer: A string is a sequence of characters, which can include letters, numbers, symbols, or whitespace characters. In programming languages, strings are typically enclosed in quotes. On the other hand, a string literal is a specific instance of a string in a programming language that is explicitly defined using quotes and can be directly interpreted by the programming language as a value, not as a reference to a variable or an expression.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of a String

A string is a sequence of characters, which can be letters, numbers, symbols, or whitespace characters. In most programming languages, strings are enclosed in quotes to differentiate them from variables or numbers.

String Examples

Examples of strings are: - "Hello, World!" - "123 Main St." - "@#%$^*"

Definition of a String Literal

A string literal is a specific instance of a string in a programming language that is explicitly defined using quotes. It can be interpreted directly by the programming language as a value, not as a reference to a variable or an expression.

String Literal Examples

Examples of string literals are: - "Hello, World!" in Python: This is a string literal because it is enclosed in quotes and represents a sequence of characters. - "123 Main St." in JavaScript: This is a string literal as it is specifically defined using quotes. - "@#%$^*" in Java: This string literal is a sequence of symbols enclosed in quotes.