The program will print:
The number of ounces is 48 The number of pounds is 3
Notice that using the variable POUNDS
in the PRINT
statement
did not change its contents.
The variable POUNDS
is like a box that holds a value you can use
as many times as you want without changing it.
The value stored in a variable can be used as many times as you want. Here is another program that uses a variable many times without changing the contents.
' 5280 feet per Mile ' 1 yard per 3 feet ' 12 inches per foot ' LET MILE = 5 PRINT "Number of Miles", MILE PRINT "Number of Yards", MILE * 5280 / 3 PRINT "Number of Feet", MILE * 5280 PRINT "Number of Inches", MILE * 5280 * 12 PRINT "Number of Miles", MILE END
The first statement finds memory for the variable MILE
and puts
the value 5 into it:
5 |
The 5 will stay in MILE
until you change it
(with a second LET
statement, for instance).
Using the variable in an arithmetic expression does not
change it.
The following statements will execute one after the other, in order.
The program will print out:
Number of Miles 5 Number of Yards 8800 Number of Feet 26400 Number of Inches 316800 Number of Miles 5
Notice that the value 5 in MILE
does not change, so the
first PRINT
statement and the last
PRINT
statement write the same
thing to the monitor.
What do you think the following program will write to the monitor?
' Hours of Boring Lectures ' LET CLASSES = 4 PRINT "Hours per Week", CLASSES * 3 PRINT "Hours per Semester", CLASSES * 3 * 15 PRINT "Ho Hum..." END