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Improve and expand the data types section in the main tutorial (#122)
* change: improve and expand the data types section in the main tutorial * patch: fix typo in header in compound data type section * patch: adjust ranges to show just the guaranteed amount and added a disclaimer to the top. * patch: add range to missed section * patch: adding pluses to data type byte size to signify minimum and expansibility
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‎docs/tutorials/programming-language/main/02-00-basics/02-04-data-types.md‎

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@@ -11,24 +11,97 @@ convention for constants is `ALL_UPPER_CASE`.
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## 2.4.1. Value Types
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Vala supports a set of the simple types as most other languages do.
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- Byte, `char`, `uchar`; their names are *char* for historical
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reasons.
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- Character, `unichar`; a 32-bit Unicode character
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- Integer, `int`, `uint`
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- Long Integer, `long`, `ulong`
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- Short Integer, `short`, `ushort`
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- Guaranteed-size Integer, `int8`, `int16`, `int32`, `int64` as well
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as their unsigned siblings `uint8`, `uint16`, `uint32`, `uint64`.
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The numbers indicate the lengths in bits.
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- Float number, `float`, `double`
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- Boolean, `bool`; possible values are `true` and `false`
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- Compound, `struct`
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- Enumeration, `enum`; represented by integer values, not as classes
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like Java's enums
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Here are some examples.
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Vala supports a set of the simple types as most other languages do.
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The following ranges may differ based on a variety of factors, such as
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the platform, the compiler, the CPU architecture, etc.
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### 2.4.1.1 Byte
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| Type | Size | Range |
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|---------|----------|----------------------|
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| `char` | 1+ bytes | at least -127 to 127 |
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| `uchar` | 1+ bytes | 0 to at least 255 |
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These have the name `char` in them for historical reasons.
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### 2.4.1.2 Integers
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| Type | Size | Range |
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|--------|----------|------------------------------------------|
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| `int` | 4+ bytes | at least -2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647 |
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| `uint` | 4+ bytes | 0 to at least 4,294,967,295 |
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### 2.4.1.3 Long
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| Type | Size | Range |
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|---------|----------|------------------------------------------|
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| `long` | 4+ bytes | at least -2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647 |
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| `ulong` | 4+ bytes | 0 to at least 4,294,967,295 |
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### 2.4.1.4 Short
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| Type | Size | Range |
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|----------|----------|----------------------------|
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| `short` | 2+ bytes | at least -32,767 to 32,767 |
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| `ushort` | 2+ bytes | 0 to at least 65,535 |
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### 2.4.1.5 Guaranteed-size Signed Integers
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| Type | Size | Range |
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|---------|----------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| `int8` | 1+ byte | at least -127 to 127 |
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| `int16` | 2+ bytes | at least -32,767 to 32,767 |
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| `int32` | 4+ bytes | at least -2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647 |
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| `int64` | 8+ bytes | at least -9,223,372,036,854,775,807 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 |
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### 2.4.1.6 Guaranteed-size Unsigned Integers
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| Type | Size | Range |
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|----------|----------|------------------------------------------|
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| `uint8` | 1+ byte | 0 to at least 255 |
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| `uint16` | 2+ bytes | 0 to at least 65,535 |
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| `uint32` | 4+ bytes | 0 to at least 4,294,967,295 |
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| `uint64` | 8+ bytes | 0 to at least 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 |
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### 2.4.1.7 Floating Points
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| Type | Size | Range | Precision |
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|----------|---------|------------------------|------------|
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| `float` | 4 bytes | 1.18e-38 to 3.4e+38 | ~7 digits |
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| `double` | 8 bytes | 2.23e-308 to 1.80e+308 | ~16 digits |
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Based on the IEEE 754-1985 standard.
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### 2.4.1.8 Array Indexing / Loop Counting
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| Type | Size | Range |
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|-----------|--------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| `size_t` | 2 to 8 bytes | 0 to at least 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 |
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| `ssize_t` | 2 to 8 bytes | at least -9,223,372,036,854,775,807 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 |
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For more information, please refer to [size_t](https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/types/size_t.html) on the C++ reference.
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### 2.4.1.9 Booleans
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| Type | Size | Values |
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|--------|-------|---------------|
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| `bool` | 1 bit | true or false |
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### 2.4.1.10 Unicode Characters
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| Type | Size | Standard |
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|------------|--------------|----------|
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| `unichar` | 4 bytes | UTF-32 |
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| `unichar2` | 1 to 2 bytes | UTF-16 |
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### 2.4.1.11 Compound
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- `struct`
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### 2.4.1.12 Enumeration
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- `enum` : values are integers, unlike Java's enums
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### Examples
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```vala
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unichar c = 'u';
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## 2.4.2. Strings
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The data type for strings is `string`. Vala strings are UTF-8 encoded
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and immutable.
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| Type | Size per Character | Max Length (theoretical) |
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|---------------------|--------------------|------------------------------|
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| `string` (UTF-8) | 1 byte | 0 - 2,147,483,647 characters |
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| `string16` (UTF-16) | 1 to 2 bytes | 0 - 2,147,483,647 characters |
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| `string32` (UTF-32) | 4 bytes | 0 - 2,147,483,647 characters |
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Strings in Vala are immutable.
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```vala
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string text = "A string literal";
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var a = 123; // int
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var b = 123u; // uint
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var c = 123l; // long
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var d = 123ll; // ulong
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var d = 123ll; // int64
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var e = 123ul; // ulong
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var f = 123ull; // uint64
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```

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