Source program character set

The following lists the basic source character sets that are available at both compile time and run time:

• The uppercase and lowercase letters of the English alphabet:

  a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

• The decimal digits:

  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

• The following graphic characters:

  ! " # % & ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? [ \ ] _ { } ~

  • The caret (^) character in ASCII (bitwise exclusive OR symbol) or the equivalent not (¬) character in EBCDIC.
  • The split vertical bar character in ASCII or the equivalent vertical bar (|) character in EBCDIC.
• The space character
• The control characters representing new-line, horizontal tab, vertical tab, form feed, end of string (NULL character), alert, backspace, and carriage return.

Depending on the implementation and compiler option, other specialized identifiers, such as the dollar sign ($) or characters in national character sets, may be allowed to appear in an identifier.

Related information

• Characters in identifiers