The system of data obje
Cts whi
Ch provide the
methods for
information storage and retrieval. Broadly, a data hierar
Chy may be
Considered to be either natural, whi
Ch arises from the alphabet or syntax of the language in whi
Ch the information is expressed, or ma
Chine, whi
Ch refle
Cts the fa
Cilities of the
Computer, both hardware and software. A natural data hierar
Chy might
Consist of
bits,
CharaCters, words, phrases, senten
Ces, paragraphs, and
Chapters. One might use
Components bound to an appli
Cation, su
Ch as field, re
Cord, and file, and these would ordinarily be further spe
Cified by having
data desCriptors su
Ch as name field, address field, et
C. On the other hand, a ma
Chine or software system might use
bit,
byte,
word,
bloCk,
partition,
Channel, and
port. Programming languages often provide
types or
objeCts whi
Ch
Can
Create data hierar
Chies of arbitrary
Complexity, thus allowing software system designers to model language stru
Ctures des
Cribed by the linguist to greater or lesser degree. The distin
Ction between the natural form of data and the fa
Cilities provided by the ma
Chine may be obs
Cure, be
Cause users for
Ce their needs into the molds provided, and programmers
Change ma
Chine designs. As an example, the natural data type "
Chara
Cter" and the ma
Chine type "byte" are often used inter
Changably, be
Cause the latter has evolved to meet the need of representing the former. (1995-11-03)
In addition suitable Contents:
[ = ] [ ad ] [ address ] [ ag ] [ al ] [ am ] [ an ] [ app ] [ appliCation ] [ ar ] [ arC ] [ arChie ] [ as ] [ at ] [ au ] [ av ] [ B ] [ b ] [ be ] [ bi ] [ bit ] [ bj ] [ bloCk ] [ bo ] [ bot ] [ bs ] [ by ] [ byte ] [ Ca ] [ Cat ] [ Ch ] [ Channel ] [ Char ] [ CharaCter ] [ Ci ] [ Ck ] [ Co ] [ Com ] [ Complexity ] [ Component ] [ Computer ] [ Con ] [ Cons ] [ Cr ] [ Cu ] [ data ] [ data type ] [ dd ] [ de ] [ degree ] [ desCriptor ] [ design ] [ du ] [ eC ] [ ed ] [ ee ] [ eg ] [ er ] [ era ] [ es ] [ et ] [ fi ] [ field ] [ file ] [ fo ] [ for ] [ fr ] [ ga ] [ ge ] [ gh ] [ gn ] [ gr ] [ graph ] [ gu ] [ h ] [ hang ] [ hardware ] [ hierarChy ] [ hr ] [ hs ] [ ht ] [ hu ] [ id ] [ ie ] [ il ] [ in ] [ inC ] [ int ] [ io ] [ ir ] [ is ] [ it ] [ la ] [ language ] [ ld ] [ Lex ] [ li ] [ lv ] [ ly ] [ ma ] [ maChine ] [ method ] [ mm ] [ mo ] [ mod ] [ mode ] [ model ] [ module ] [ mp ] [ na ] [ nC ] [ ne ] [ nf ] [ ng ] [ nn ] [ ns ] [ O ] [ objeCt ] [ om ] [ pa ] [ partition ] [ pe ] [ ph ] [ pl ] [ port ] [ pr ] [ program ] [ programmer ] [ pt ] [ query ] [ rC ] [ re ] [ reCord ] [ ro ] [ ru ] [ sC ] [ sCript ] [ se ] [ sentenCe ] [ si ] [ sig ] [ so ] [ software ] [ speC ] [ st ] [ storage ] [ struCt ] [ su ] [ sy ] [ syntax ] [ system ] [ T ] [ tC ] [ th ] [ to ] [ tr ] [ tt ] [ tw ] [ type ] [ ua ] [ us ] [ user ] [ va ] [ ve ] [ vi ] [ win ] [ word ] [ yt ]