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== Different types of Variables ==
This a table of all the different data types that a variable can be, you don't need to remember all of these, just a few.

For now, just try and remember these:
* Integer
* Double
* Boolean
* Char
* String

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="3" | Whole Numbers
|-
|colspan="3" | The key thing here is to select the smallest one that you can run your program with to save resources, this is especially important with game development as a lot of RAM will be used.
|-
| '''Byte''' || 8-bits || Unsigned byte: Can hold numbers in range: 

'''0''' to '''255''' 

(same as '''0''' to <math>2^8-1</math>)
|-
| '''SByte''' || 8-bits || Signed byte: Can hold numbers in range:

'''-128''' to '''127'''

(same as <math>-2^7</math> to <math>2^7-1</math>)
|-
| '''Short''' || 16-bits || Signed short: Can hold numbers in range:

'''-32,768''' to '''32,767'''

(same as <math>-2^{15}</math> to <math>2^{15}-1</math>)
|-
| '''UShort''' || 16-bits || Unsigned short: Can hold numbers in range:

'''0''' to '''65,535'''

(same as '''0''' to <math>2^{16}-1</math>)
|-
| '''Integer''' || 32-bits || Signed Integer: Can hold numbers in range:

'''-2,147,483,648''' to '''2,147,483,647'''

(same as <math>-2^{31}</math> to <math>2^{31}-1</math>)
|-
| '''UInteger''' || 32-bits || Unsigned Integer: Can hold numbers in range:

'''0''' to '''4,294,967,295'''

(same as '''0''' to <math>2^{32}-1</math>)
|-
| '''Long''' || 64-bits || Signed Long: Can hold numbers in range:

'''-9,223,372,036,854,775,808''' to '''9,223,372,036,854,775,807'''

(same as <math>-2^{63}</math> to <math>2^{63}-1</math>)
|-
| '''ULong''' || 64-bits || Unsigned Integer: Can hold numbers in range:

'''0''' to '''18,446,744,073,709,551,615'''

(same as '''0''' to <math>2^{64}-1</math>)
|-
!colspan="3" | Decimal Numbers
|-
|colspan="3" | The key thing here is to select the smallest one that you can run your program with to save resources, this is especially important with game development as a lot of RAM will be used.
|-
| '''Single''' || 32-bits || single-precision floating-point numbers ranging in value from -3.4028235E+38 through -1.401298E-45 for negative values and from 1.401298E-45 through 3.4028235E+38 for positive values<ref>http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xay7978z.aspx</ref>.
|-
| '''Double''' || 64-bits || double-precision floating-point numbers that range in value from -1.79769313486231570E+308 through -4.94065645841246544E-324 for negative values and from 4.94065645841246544E-324 through 1.79769313486231570E+308 for positive values<ref>http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/x99xtshc.aspx</ref>.
|-
| '''Decimal''' || 128-bits || Holds signed 128-bit (16-byte) values representing 96-bit (12-byte) integer numbers scaled by a variable power of 10. The scaling factor specifies the number of digits to the right of the decimal point; it ranges from 0 through 28. With a scale of 0 (no decimal places), the largest possible value is +/-79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335 (+/-7.9228162514264337593543950335E+28). With 28 decimal places, the largest value is +/-7.9228162514264337593543950335, and the smallest nonzero value is +/-0.0000000000000000000000000001 (+/-1E-28)<ref>http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xtba3z33.aspx</ref>.
|-
!colspan="3" | Text
|-
| '''Char''' || 16-bits || Can hold one of 65536 Unicode character.
|-
| '''String''' || 16-bits per character || Can hold many of the 65536 Unicode characters available in an order.
|-
!colspan="3" | Boolean
|-
| '''Boolean''' || 1-bit || Holds a True/False state (0 or 1), one binary digit.
|-
!colspan="3" | Miscellaneous
|-
| '''Date''' || 64-bit<ref>http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/3eaydw6e.aspx</ref> || Can hold one date and time.
|}

== Declaration of a variables ==
You can create a variable with the following format:
 Dim ''NameOfVariable'' As ''DataTypeOfTheVariable''
Examples:
<syntaxhighlight lang="vbnet">
Dim Num1 as Integer
Dim Num2 as Double
Dim Bool1 as Boolean
Dim Char1 as Char
Dim Str1 as String
</syntaxhighlight>

If you want to make many variables of the same data type it can be done like so:
 Dim ''NameOfVariable'',''NameOfVariable2'',''NameOfVariable3'',''...''  As ''DataTypeOfTheVariables''
Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang="vbnet">
Dim Num1, Num2, Num3 as Integer
</syntaxhighlight>

== Setting the value for a variable ==
There are two way which you can set the state of a variable:
* On the declaration line
* Standalone statement
* Standalone statement mixed with math (will be shown at a later date).

Example of setting value on a declaration line:
<syntaxhighlight lang="vbnet">
Dim Num1 as Integer = 5
</syntaxhighlight>
Example of setting value as a standalone statement:
<syntaxhighlight lang="vbnet">
Num1 = 5
</syntaxhighlight>

Example:

This code:
<syntaxhighlight lang="vbnet">
Dim Num1 as integer = 10
Console.WriteLine(Num1)
Num1 = -4
Console.WriteLine(Num1)

'Stopping the console from closing
Console.ReadLine()
</syntaxhighlight>
Will output:
 10
 -4

== Naming conventions ==
When naming variables, you should name them using lower camel case<ref>http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LowerCamelCase</ref>

thisIsWhereYouWriteVariablesLikeThis

itIsLowerBecauseTheFirstLetterIsLowerCase

== References ==
{{reflist}}
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