Containers with Names

A variable is a container that holds a value, with a name you choose. Once a value has a name, you can use it anywhere by that name.

Assignment means putting a value into a variable. The = sign does the storing. It is not the equals sign from math class. Read village = "Kumasi" as: the name village now holds the text Kumasi.

Creating a variable

PYTHON

village = "Kumasi"

JAVASCRIPT

let village = "Kumasi";

Compare → Python just writes name = value. JavaScript announces a new variable with the keyword let. Both create a container named village holding the text Kumasi.

EXAMPLE

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YOUR TURN

Your turn → Create a second variable for your ancestral village, city, or neighborhood, and print it.

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Syntax has to be exact. Every quote, bracket and parenthesis needs its partner, and in Python the spaces at the start of a line count. One slip and the program won't run; the message will say where.

✦ No quotes on names

print(village) prints what the container holds. print("village") prints the word village itself. Names are unquoted; text is quoted.

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