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You're reading from  Android Studio 4.2 Development Essentials - Kotlin Edition

Product typeBook
Published inAug 2021
Reading LevelIntermediate
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781803231549
Edition1st Edition
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Neil Smyth
Neil Smyth
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Neil Smyth

Neil Smyth has over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, including roles in software development and enterprise-level UNIX and Linux system administration. In addition to a bachelor's degree in information technology, he also holds A+, Security+, Network+, Project+, and Microsoft Certified Professional certifications and is a CIW Database Design Specialist. Neil is the co-founder and CEO of Payload Media, Inc. (a technical content publishing company), and the author of the Essentials range of programming and system administration books.
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12.3 Immutable Variables

Often referred to as a constant, an immutable variable is similar to a mutable variable in that it provides a named location in memory to store a data value. Immutable variables differ in one significant way in that once a value has been assigned it cannot subsequently be changed.

Immutable variables are particularly useful if there is a value which is used repeatedly throughout the application code. Rather than use the value each time, it makes the code easier to read if the value is first assigned to a constant which is then referenced in the code. For example, it might not be clear to someone reading your Kotlin code why you used the value 5 in an expression. If, instead of the value 5, you use an immutable variable named interestRate the purpose of the value becomes much clearer. Immutable values also have the advantage that if the programmer needs to change a widely used value, it only needs to be changed once in the constant declaration and not each...

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Android Studio 4.2 Development Essentials - Kotlin Edition
Published in: Aug 2021Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781803231549

Author (1)

author image
Neil Smyth

Neil Smyth has over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, including roles in software development and enterprise-level UNIX and Linux system administration. In addition to a bachelor's degree in information technology, he also holds A+, Security+, Network+, Project+, and Microsoft Certified Professional certifications and is a CIW Database Design Specialist. Neil is the co-founder and CEO of Payload Media, Inc. (a technical content publishing company), and the author of the Essentials range of programming and system administration books.
Read more about Neil Smyth