In computer programming, a string is a sequence of characters, either as a literal constant or as some kind of variable). Strings are a fundamental data type in most programming languages, making them widely available and well-supported. They are used to store human-readable text, like words and sentences, and to communicate information from a computer program to the user of the program). Strings may also store data expressed as characters yet not intended for human reading).
In formal languages, which are used in mathematical logic and theoretical computer science, a string is a finite sequence of symbols that are chosen from a set called an alphabet). Many algorithms and data structures have been developed to efficiently manipulate strings, such as string matching algorithms, string compression algorithms, and data structures like tries and suffix arrays. Strings are often used to model real-world data, such as names, addresses, and other forms of text data, making them a useful tool in many applications. They are also used as input to algorithms for text mining and natural language processing, such as sentiment analysis and named entity recognition.
In summary, a string is a sequence of characters used to represent text in computer programming and formal languages. They are a fundamental data type in most programming languages and are used to store and manipulate human-readable text, as well as model real-world data and input to algorithms for text mining and natural language processing.