Chapter 6

Constants, Variables, Expressions and Operators

After you have learned the fundamentals of programming in GW-
BASIC, you will find that you
will want to write more complex programs. The information in this
chapter will help you learn
more about the use of constants, variables, expressions, and operators
in GW-BASIC, and how
they can be used to develop more sophisticated programs.
6.1 Constants
Constants are static values the GW-BASIC Interpreter uses during
execution of your program.
There are two types of constants: string and numeric.
A string constant is a sequence of 0 to 255 alphanumeric characters
enclosed in double quotation
marks. The following are sample string constants:
HELLO
$25,000.00
Number of Employees
Numeric constants can be positive or negative. When entering a
numeric constant in GW-BASIC,
you should not type the commas. For instance, if the number 10,000
were to be entered as a
constant, it would be typed as 10000. There are five types of numeric
constants: integer, fixedpoint,
floating-point, hexadecimal, and octal.
Constant Description
Integer Whole numbers between -32768 and +32767. They do not
contain
decimal points.
Fixed-Point Positive or negative real numbers that contain decimal
points.
Floating-Point Constants Positive or negative numbers represented in
exponential form
(similar to scientific notation). A floating-point constant consists of
an optionally-signed integer or fixed-point number (the mantissa),
followed by the letter E and an optionally-signed integer (the
exponent).