Everything in a computer is a sequence of binary digits. C's intrinsic data types enable the compiler to tell the computer how to interpret binary sequences of data.
A binary sequence plus a data type results in a meaningful value. The data type not only leads to a meaningful value but it also helps determine what kind of operations on that value make sense. Operations involve manipulating values as well as converting or casting a value from one data type to a related data type.
Once we have explored C's intrinsic data types in this chapter, we can then use them as building blocks for more complex data representations. This chapter, then, is the basis for the more complex data representations we will encounter ...
