The value of the variable, which is the value the variable name represents, might be categorized as follows:

• A constant, which is a number that is expressed as:
  • An integer (12)
  • A decimal (12.5)
  • A floating point number (1.25E2)
  • A signed number (-12)
  • A string constant (' 12')
• A string, which is one or more words that may or may not be enclosed in quotation marks, such as:

  This value is a string.
  'This value is a literal string.'

• The value from another variable, such as:

  variable1 = variable2

  In the above example, variable1 changes to the value of variable2, but variable2 remains the same.

• An expression, which is something that needs to be calculated, such as:

  variable2 = 12 + 12 - .6            /* variable2 becomes 23.4 */

Before a variable is assigned a value, the variable displays the value of its own name translated to uppercase. In the following example, if the variable new was not assigned a previous value, the word "NEW" is displayed.

SAY new                                            /* displays NEW */