Data types refer to an extensive system used for declaring variables or functions of different types.
VB.Net provides a wide range of data types. The following table shows the Visual Basic data types, their supporting common language runtime types, their nominal storage allocation, and their value ranges.
| Visual Basic Type | CLR Type Structure | Nominal Storage Allocation | Value range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boolean | Boolean | Depends on implementing platform | True or False |
| Byte | Byte | 1 byte | 0 through 255 (unsigned) |
| Char | Char | 2 bytes | 0 through 65535 (unsigned) |
| Date | DateTime | 8 bytes | 0:00:00 (midnight) on January 1, 0001 through 11:59:59 PM on December 31, 9999 |
| Decimal | Decimal | 16 bytes | 0 through +/-79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335 (+/-7.9...E+28) with no decimal point; 0 through +/-7.9228162514264337593543950335 with 28 places to the right of the decimal; smallest nonzero number is +/-0.0000000000000000000000000001 (+/-1E-28) |
| Double | Double | 8 bytes | -1.79769313486231570E+308 through -4.94065645841246544E-324, for negative values; 4.94065645841246544E-324 through 1.79769313486231570E+308 † for positive values |
| Integer | Int32 | 4 bytes | -2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647 (signed) |
| Long | Int64 | 8 bytes | -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 through 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 (9.2...E+18) (signed) |
| Object | Object | 4 bytes on 32-bit platform 8 bytes on 64-bit platform |
Any type can be stored in a variable of type Object |
| SByte | SByte | 1 byte | -128 through 127 (signed) |
| Short | Int16 | 2 bytes | -32,768 through 32,767 (signed) |
| Single | Single | 4 bytes | -3.4028235E+38 through -1.401298E-45 for negative values; 1.401298E-45 through 3.4028235E+38 † for positive values |
| String | String | Depends on implementing platform | 0 to approximately 2 billion Unicode characters |
| UInteger | UInt32 | 4 bytes | 0 through 4,294,967,295 (unsigned) |
| ULong | UInt64 | 8 bytes | 0 through 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (1.8...E+19) (unsigned) |
| User-Defined (structure) | (inherits from ValueType) | Depends on implementing platform | Each member of the structure has a range determined by its data type and independent of the ranges of the other members |
| UShort | UInt16 | 2 bytes | 0 through 65,535 (unsigned) |
A Data Type refers to which type of data or value is assigning to a variable or function so that a variable can hold a defined data type value. The basic syntax of declaring a variable is as follows:
Dim VarName as DataType