What is a literal in programming?

A literal in programming refers to a fixed value that is directly written into the code. This could be numbers, strings, characters, or boolean values explicitly defined by the programmer. For example, in the code let x = 5;, the value 5 is a number literal because it is directly specified in the code itself, not derived from any computations or external sources.

This concept is fundamental in programming, as literals are used to represent constant values that won’t change during the execution of a program. They can often be found in various programming contexts, such as initializing variables, passing parameters to functions, or comparing values.

In contrast, a reference to an external resource would involve a more dynamic element, like a variable or an object that points to an external file or data source. A dynamic value that can change signifies variables that hold values that might update as the program runs, rather than fixed values. Lastly, a value stored in an array also does not strictly qualify as a literal since it refers to a collection of items or references rather than a static, immutable value specified in the code.