Choosing between CHAR and STRING

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which data type suits a grade letter such as 'B'?

A CHAR

B STRING

2. Which data type suits a student's name?

A STRING

B CHAR

3. Which data type suits a phone number such as "07700900123"?

A STRING

B INTEGER

4. A program asks 'Do you want to continue? (Y/N)'. Which type stores the answer?

A STRING

B CHAR

5. Which statement is true?

A A CHAR can hold any length of text, including none

B A STRING can hold any length of text, including none

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1DECLARE Grade : CHAR		AGrade holds exactly one character, such as a grade letter like A, B or C
2DECLARE PhoneNumber : STRING		BDECLARE Answer : CHAR
3A name can be any length, so it should be stored as a STRING		CPhoneNumber holds text of any length; digits are stored as text because they are not used in calculations
4A yes or no answer of 'Y' or 'N' is always one character, so it is a CHAR		DA surname can be many characters long, so it needs STRING, not CHAR. CHAR holds only one character.
5DECLARE Surname : CHAR		EA grade letter is always exactly one character, so CHAR is the better choice. The CHAR literal would also use single quotes: 'A'.
6DECLARE Grade : STRING Grade ← "A"		FDECLARE FirstName : STRING

Definitions

CHAR or STRING

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

DECLARE Grade : ____ Grade ← 'B'

DECLARE FirstName : ______ FirstName ← "Priya"

DECLARE PhoneNumber : ______ PhoneNumber ← "07700900123"

DECLARE Answer : ____ OUTPUT "Continue? (Y/N)" INPUT Answer

DECLARE Comment : ______ Comment ← ""

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A DECLARE Phone : INTEGER

B INPUT Phone

C OUTPUT Phone

Question 2

A DECLARE Grade : CHAR

B Grade ← 'B'

C DECLARE Name : STRING

D Name ← 'Sam'

Question 3

A DECLARE Answer : CHAR

B Answer ← "Yes"

C OUTPUT Answer

Question 4

A DECLARE Surname : STRING

B Surname ← ""

C Initial ← ''

Question 5

A DECLARE FirstName : CHAR

B INPUT FirstName

C OUTPUT FirstName

Answer Key

Choosing between CHAR and STRING

Section A: Quick Questions

A — CHAR

A — STRING

B — CHAR

B — A STRING can hold any length of text, including none

Section B: Match the Pairs

DECLARE Grade : CHAR → Grade holds exactly one character, such as a grade letter like A, B or C

DECLARE PhoneNumber : STRING → PhoneNumber holds text of any length; digits are stored as text because they are not used in calculations

A name can be any length, so it should be stored as a STRING → DECLARE FirstName : STRING

A yes or no answer of 'Y' or 'N' is always one character, so it is a CHAR → DECLARE Answer : CHAR

DECLARE Surname : CHAR → A surname can be many characters long, so it needs STRING, not CHAR. CHAR holds only one character.

DECLARE Grade : STRING Grade ← "A" → A grade letter is always exactly one character, so CHAR is the better choice. The CHAR literal would also use single quotes: 'A'.

Section C: Definitions

CHAR or STRING — Use CHAR for a value that is always exactly one character, like a grade letter or Y/N. Use STRING for text of any length, including none, like a name or phone number.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

DECLARE Grade : CHAR
Grade ← 'B'

DECLARE FirstName : STRING
FirstName ← "Priya"

DECLARE PhoneNumber : STRING
PhoneNumber ← "07700900123"

DECLARE Answer : CHAR
OUTPUT "Continue? (Y/N)"
INPUT Answer

DECLARE Comment : STRING
Comment ← ""

Section E: Spot the Error

A — A phone number is not used in calculations and can start with 0, so it must be STRING. INTEGER would drop the leading zero. It should be DECLARE Phone : STRING.

D — Single quotes make a CHAR literal, which holds exactly one character. A name is a STRING and needs double quotes: Name ← "Sam".

B — A CHAR holds exactly one character, and "Yes" is a three-character STRING. For a Y/N answer use the single character 'Y'.

C — A CHAR must be exactly one character, so it cannot be empty. Only a STRING can be empty. It should be Initial ← 'K' with one character between the quotes.

A — A name can be any length, so it needs STRING. A CHAR can only hold one character. It should be DECLARE FirstName : STRING.