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Character String

Webopedia Staff
Last Updated May 24, 2021 7:37 am

A character string is a series of characters manipulated as a group. A character string differs from a name in that it does not represent anything — a name stands for some other object.

A character string is often specified by enclosing the characters in single or double quotes. For example, WASHINGTON would be a name, but ‘WASHINGTON’ and “WASHINGTON” would be character strings.

Character String Length

The length of a character string is usually the number of characters in it. For example, the character string “WASHINGTON” has a length of 10 (the quote marks are not included). Some programs, however, mark the beginning or end of a character string with an invisible character, so the length might actually be one greater than the number of characters.