CICS 313:

Visual Basic Programming

Variables and Data Types

Ghana Technology University College
Lecturer – Dr. Forgor Lempogo
2021
VB Language Fundamentals

VB Statements

Data Types

Operators in VB

Declaring and Assigning Variables

Declaring Constants

Static Variable Types

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Objectives
After completing this section, you will be able to:

Create an use VB statements

understand the fundamental language features

of VB
Identify supported VB data types

Explain how to create variables and constants

Use built-in functions to convert different data-

types
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What is a Variable?
A variable is a portion of memory to store a
determined value.
Computer memory locations used to store data
while an application is running
Use a meaningful variable name that reflects the
purpose of the variable
Use camel casing for variable identifiers

Variable names should conform to naming rules

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 Variables
While executing a program, the computer needs to
hold some information.

This location is associated with a specific address

where a value can be stored and retrieved when
required.

Variables hold the data temporarily.

The value stored in a variable can vary while the

program is running.
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 Identifiers
An identifier is a sequence of one or more letters,
digits or underscore characters (_) that is used to
distinguish one variable from the others.

Each variable needs an identifier that

distinguishes it from the others.

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Identifier Rules
 Neither spaces nor punctuation marks or symbols can
be part of an identifier.
 Only letters, digits and single underscore characters are
valid.
 variable identifiers always have to begin with a letter.

 They can also begin with an underline (underscore)

character (_ )

 In no case should they begin with a digit.

 Identifiers cannot match any keyword of the Visual Basic

language nor your compiler's specific ones, which are
reserved
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VB Statements
 VB programs are written using statements such as those
shown below:
Dim custCount as Integer = 3
custCount += 1

 Statements represent a single VB operation and can be

composed of several elements including:
 types, VB keywords, etc.

 Statements that span more than one line require the _

continuation character:

Dim custCount as _
Integer = 3
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 VB Statements - Commenting

Comments allow documentation to be added into

code and/or statements to be commented out.

VB statements can be commented by using the

apostrophe (‘) character:

‘ Dim custCount as Integer = 3

‘This is my VB comment Statement

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Fundamental data types (1/2)
When programming, variables are stored in the
computer's Memory, the computer has to know
what kind of data we want to store.

The computer will not allocate the same amount of

memory to store a simple number or a single letter or
a large number.

Different data types are not going to be interpreted

the same way.

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 Fundamental data types (2/2)
 Below are the basic fundamental data types in VB:
Integer
Long
Short
 single
Double
Decimal
String
Char
Boolean
Object
date
More information on VB data types
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 Integer Types
 Used to store only numeric values without any decimal point,
such as natural numbers, whole numbers, etc.

 Integers can be of the Long, Short or Integer types:

Short type
has a size of 2-bytes, so it can store only small values.

Integer
has a size of 4-bytes and it can store the values that
cannot to be stored by the Short integer.

Long type
has a size of 8-bytes, so it can hold large values.

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 Double Types (1/2)
 Used to store floating point values with decimal point, such as
fractions.

 Double can be of the Single, Double and Decimal Types:

 Single type
Single has a size of 4-bytes, so it can store values with
only small number of decimal places.

 Double type
has a size of 8-bytes and can store the values that cannot
to be stored by the Single type.

Decimal type
 has a size of 16-bytes, so it can hold large values with
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large decimal places.
CICS 313:Visual Basic Programming - GTUC 2021 Delivery
Double Types (2/2)
 Double type variables are stored internally and have a greater
accuracy and precision as compared to single type variables.

 Consider the following example:

22/7 = 3.14285714...........
 the value after the decimal will be infinite, and will exceed the
range allowed for double type variables.

 The result will be truncated.

 the fractional values cannot always be represented accurately

in the computer memory;

 more precision requires more memory.

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Data Types (2/4)
Boolean Type
The Boolean type variable stores true/false values.
The Boolean variables are integers that take 1 for true and
0 for false.
Boolean variables are also combined with the logical
operators
 AND, OR, NOT, and XOR.

String Type
These type of variables can only store text.

Char Type
A character variable stores a single character in two bytes.
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Numeric Data Types
Type Storage Range of Values
Byte 1 byte 0 to 255
Integer 2 bytes -32,768 to 32,767
Long 4 bytes -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,648
-3.402823E+38 to -1.401298E-45 for negative values
Single 4 bytes
1.401298E-45 to 3.402823E+38 for positive values.

-1.79769313486232e+308 to -4.94065645841247E-
324 for negative values
Double 8 bytes
4.94065645841247E-324 to 1.79769313486232e+308
for positive values.
-922,337,203,685,477.5808 to
Currency 8 bytes
922,337,203,685,477.5807
+/- 79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335 if no
decimal is use
Decimal 16 bytes
+/- 7.9228162514264337593543950335 (28 decimal
places).
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Non-numeric Data Types
Data Type Storage Range
String(fixed length) Length of string 1 to 65,400 characters

String(variable length) Length + 10 bytes 0 to 2 billion characters

January 1, 100 to
Date 8 bytes
December 31, 9999
Boolean 2 bytes True or False

Object 4 bytes Any embedded object

Any value as large as
Variant(numeric) 16 bytes
Double
Same as variable-
Variant(text) Length+22 bytes
length string
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 Declaring a Variable in Code (1/3)
 Declaration statement:
 A statement that helps a language to create a variable in
memory is called a variable declaration statement.

 Declaration statement includes

 Scope keyword: Dim, Private, or Static
 Name of the variable (Identifier)
 Data type
 Initial value (optional)

 Numeric data types are automatically initialized to 0

 String data type is automatically initialized to “”

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Declaration of Variables (2/3)
The syntax for declaring a variable is as follows:

Dim VariableName As Data Type

For example:
Dim Area As Integer
Dim stands for dimension and it directs the compiler
that a variable is being declared.
The word Area is the name (identifier) of the
variable.
The term As Integer is used to specify that the
variable will hold an integer value.
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Declaration of Variables (3/3)
 You can declare multiple variables in a single statement.
 A comma separates these variables from one another.

Dim VariableName1, VariableName2, VariableNameN As Data Type

For example,
Dim Area, Perimeter As Integer

 You can also declare multiple variables of the same or different types
within a single statement.

Dim VariableName1 As Integer, VariableName2 As String

For example,
Dim Area As Integer, Name As String

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Initializing a Variable
 Initializing a variable means assigning an initial value to a
variable while declaring it.
 The syntax of initializing a variable is as follows:

Dim Variable Name As Datatype = initial value

For example,
Dim Area As Integer = 254
 You can also initialize multiple variables of the same or
different types within a single statement.
 The syntax is follows:
Dim Variable Name 1 As Datatype = initial value, Variable name 2 = initial value

For example,
Dim Area As Integer = 254, Name As String = “Smith”
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The Scope and Lifetime of a Variable
Scope:
indicates where the variable can be seen and
used

Lifetime:
indicates how long the variable remains in
memory

Variables can have:

Module scope
Procedure scope
Block scope
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Block scope
 Variables are declared within a block of code

 Only the block can see this variable

Private Sub btnSum_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _

ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSum.Click

Dim x As Integer
For x = 0 To 50 Step 1
Dim S As Integer
S=S+x
MessageBox.Show(“ The sum is ” & S)
Next

End Sub

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 Procedure Scope (1/2)
 Procedure-level variable:
Declared within a procedure
Use the Dim keyword in the declaration

 Procedure scope:
only the procedure can use the variable
With procedure-level scope, two procedures can each use
the same variable names

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Procedure Scope (2/2)
Private Sub btnTaxCalc_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnTaxCalc.Click
‘Declare Variables
Dim sales As Double
Dim tax1 As Double
‘Calculate and display the sales tax
Double.TryParse(txtSales.Text, sales)
Tax1 = sales * 0.02
lblTax.Text = tax1.ToString
End Sub
Private Sub btnTaxCalc2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnTaxCalc2.Click
‘Declare Variables
Dim sales As Double
Dim tax2 As Double
‘Calculate and display the sales tax
Double.TryParse(txtSales.Text, sales)
Tax2 = sales * 0.05
lblTax.Text = tax2.ToString
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End Sub
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Procedure Scope (2/2)
Private Sub btnTaxCalc_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnTaxCalc.Click
‘Declare Variables
Dim sales As Double
Dim tax1 As Double
‘Calculate and display the sales tax
Double.TryParse(txtSales.Text, sales)
Tax1 = sales * 0.02
lblTax.Text = tax1.ToString
End Sub
Private Sub btnTaxCalc2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnTaxCalc2.Click
‘Declare Variables
Dim sales As Double
Dim tax2 As Double
‘Calculate and display the sales tax
Double.TryParse(txtSales.Text, sales)
Tax2 = sales * 0.05
lblTax.Text = tax2.ToString
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End Sub
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Module Scope (1/2)
 Module scope:
 variable can be used by all procedures in the form
variable is declared in the form’s Declarations section
 Module-level variable:
Declared in the form’s Declarations section
Use Private keyword in declaration

 Module-level variables retain their values until the

application ends
Variables declared within a procedure have either
procedure scope or block scope

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Module Scope (2/2)
Option Explicit On
Option Strict On
Option Infer Off

Public Class Form1

‘Module level variable used to store the sales amount

Private sales As Double

Private Sub btnTaxCalc_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _

ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnTaxCalc.Click
‘Declare Variables
Dim tax1 As Double
‘Calculate and display the sales tax
Double.TryParse(txtSales.Text, sales)
Tax1 = sales * 0.02
lblTax.Text = tax1.ToString
End Sub
Private Sub btnTaxCalc2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnTaxCalc2.Click
‘Declare Variables
Dim tax2 As Double
‘Calculate and display the sales tax
Double.TryParse(txtSales.Text, sales)
Tax2 = sales * 0.05
lblTax.Text = tax2.ToString
36 End Sub
CICS 313:Visual Basic Programming - GTUC 2021 Delivery
Static Variables (1/2)
 Static variable:
Procedure-level variable that retains its value even
after the procedure ends
Retains its value until the application ends (like a
module-level variable), but can only be used by the
procedure in which it is declared

 A static variable has:

Same lifetime as a module-level variable
Narrower scope than a module-level variable

 Declared using the Static keyword

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Static Variables (2/2)
Option Explicit On
Option Strict On
Option Infer Off

Public Class Form1

Private Sub btnTotalSales_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _

ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnTotalSales.Click

‘Declare Variables
Dim salesAmount As Decimal
Static totalSales as Decimal

‘Calculate and display the total sales

Decimal.TryParse(txtSales.Text, salesAmount)
totalSales = totalSales + salesAmount
lblTotalSales.Text = totalSales.ToString
End Sub
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 Named Constants (1/3)

Memory location whose value cannot be changed

while the application is running

Declared using the Const keyword

Good programming practice to specify the data

type as well

Many programmers use Pascal case for named

constants
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 Named Constants (2/3)
 Syntax
Const constantName As DataType = Expression

 Example 1
Const Pi As Double = 3.141593

 example 2
Const MaxHours As Integer = 40

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Named Constants (3/3)
Option Explicit On
Option Strict On
Option Infer Off
Public Class Form1

Private Sub btnCalc_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _

ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCalc.Click
‘Calculate the area of a circle
‘Declare Variables
Const Pi As Double = 3.141593
Dim radius As Double
Dim Area As Double

‘Calculate and display the area

Double.TryParse(txtRadius.Text, radius)
Area = Pi * radius * radius
lblArea.Text = Area.ToString
End Sub
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Data Type Conversion
You can convert the data type of a variable from one
type to another with the help of certain functions
provided by VB.NET. Such as the:
 Type Conversion Functions

CType Function

TryParse Method

Convert Class

etc

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Type Conversion Functions
These methods can be Arguments
used to convert data Function converted to
from any data type to any CChar Character
CByte Byte
data type in VB.
CBool Boolean
CDate Date
Care must be taken to CDec Decimal
make sure the converted CInt Integer (4 byte)
data will remain useful CLng Long (8 byte)
CShort Short (2 byte)
Be sure you are not CStr String
converting a string of CDbl Double
ALPHABETS to a numeric CSng Single
data type
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Type Conversion - Examples

Convert an Integer type variable x to a Double

type variable y:

Dim x As Integer
Dim y As Double
y = CDbl (x)

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The CType Function
 Returns the result of explicitly converting an expression
to a specified data type.
 Syntax
CType(expression, typename)

 Expression
 Any valid expression.
 If the value of expression is outside the range allowed by
typename, Visual Basic throws an exception.

 Typename
 The name of any data type, object, structure, class, or interface.
 Any expression that is legal within an As clause in a Dim
statement
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CType Function -Examples

The following statement is used to convert the

value of variable x to Double:

Dim x As Integer = 53
Dim y As Double
y = CType(x, Double)

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Using the TryParse Method (1/2)
 Method:
 a specific portion of a class’s instructions that performs a
task for the class

 TryParse method:
 Part of every numeric data type’s class
 Used to convert a string to that numeric data type

 Argument:
 a value that is provided to a method

 Basic syntax of TryParse method has two arguments:

 String: string value to be converted
 Variable: location to store the result
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Using the TryParse Method (2/2)
If TryParse conversion is successful, the method
stores the value in the variable

If unsuccessful, a 0 is stored in the numeric variable

dataType.TryParse(string, Variable)

Dim sales As Double

Double.TryParse(salesTextBox.Text, sales)

Dim num As Integer

Integer.TryParse(numTextbox.Text, num)
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 Using the Convert Class
 Convert class:
Contains methods for converting numeric values to
specific data types

 Use the dot member access operator to separate the

class name from the method name

 Commonly used methods of the Convert class include:

ToDouble
Convert.Method(Value)
ToDecimal
ToInt Dim rate As Decimal = Convert.ToDecimal(.05)
ToString
Dim testScore As Integer = 98
totalLabel.Text = Convert.Tostring(testScore)
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 Option Explicit, Option Infer,
and Option Strict (1/3)
 Undeclared variable:
 a variable that does not appear in a declaration statement
(such as Dim) is assigned a data type of Object
 Misspelling a variable name can result in an undeclared
variable unless Option Explicit is on

 Option Explicit On statement

 Appears in the General Declarations section of the Code
Editor window (above Public Class statement)

 Enforces that all variables must be declared before being

used

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 Option Explicit, Option Infer,
and Option Strict (2/3)
 Option Infer Off statement:
 ensures that every variable is declared with a data type

 Implicit type conversion:

 occurs when you attempt to assign data of one type to a
variable of another type without explicitly attempting to convert it

 If converted to a data type that can store larger numbers, the

value is said to be promoted

 If converted to a data type that can store only smaller numbers,

the value is said to be demoted
 Can cause truncation and loss of precision

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 Option Explicit, Option Infer,
and Option Strict (3/3)
 Option Strict On statement:
ensures that values cannot be converted from one data
type to a narrower data type, resulting in lost precision

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 Any Questions?

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