What is a DATA?

Data (/ˈdeɪtə/ DAY-tə, /ˈdætə/ DAT-ə, /ˈdɑːtə/ DAH-tə;[1] treated as singular, plural, or as a mass noun) is any sequence of one or more symbols given meaning by the specific act(s) of interpretation.

Data (or datum – a single unit of data) requires interpretation to become information. To translate data into metadata is used to reference the data about the data. Metadata may be implied, specified or given. Data relating to physical events or processes will also have a temporal component. In almost all cases this temporal component is implied. This is the case when a device such as a temperature logger receives data from a temperature sensor. When the temperature is received it is assumed that the data has a temporal reference of "now". So the device records the date, time and temperature together. When the data logger communicates temperatures, it must also report the date and time (metadata) for each temperature.

information, there must be several known factors considered. The factors involved are determined by the creator of the data and the desired information. The term

Digital data is data that is represented using the binary number system of ones (1) and zeros (0), as opposed to analog representation. In modern (post-1960) computer systems, all data is digital. Data within a computer, in most cases, move as parallel data. Data moving to or from a computer, in most cases, moves as serial data. See Parallel communication and Serial communication. Data sourced from an analog device, such as a temperature sensor, must pass through an "analog to digital converter" or "ADC" (see Analog-to-digital converter) to convert the analog data to digital data.

Data representing quantities, characters, or symbols on which operations are performed by a computer are stored and recorded on magnetic, optical, or mechanical recording media, and transmitted in the form of digital electrical signals.[2]

A program is a set of data that consists of a series of coded software instructions to control the operation of a computer or other machine.[3] Physical computer memory elements consist of an address and a byte/word of data storage. Digital data are often stored in relational databases, like tables or SQL databases, and can generally be represented as abstract key/value pairs.

Data can be organized in many different types of data structures, including arrays, graphs, and objects. Data structures can store data of many different types, including numbers, strings, and even other data structures. Data pass in and out of computers via peripheral devices.

In an alternate usage, binary files (which are not human-readable) are sometimes called "data" as distinguished from human-readable "text".[4] The total amount of digital data in 2007 was estimated to be 281 billion gigabytes (= 281 exabytes).[5][6] Digital data comes in these three states: data at rest, data in transit and data in use.