A string is a unique sequence of bytes representing specific characters. Strings are often referred to as text strings or character strings.

Depending upon the particular program or operation in which the string is utilized, the relationship (mapping) between bytes and characters (e.g., eight-bit characters) is predetermined by the character set (e.g., ASCII) in use. Accordingly, strings are interpreted in with regard to the environment in which they are used.

The most common text strings encountered in modern computer usage result from the use of the ASCII character set or some other character set (e.g., Unicode). In contrast to numerical data upon which mathematical operations may be performed, text strings that result from character mapping are simply series of linked characters that can be manipulated as a group. Much as words are formed from combinations of letters, strings are unique combinations of characters...