Thin cords or threads, often used for tying or as components of musical instruments. In computing, sequences of characters treated as single data units.
From Old English 'streng' meaning 'cord, rope,' related to 'strong.' The computing sense developed in the 1960s because early programmers visualized data as beads on a string - sequential and connected.
The metaphor of 'strings' in computing reveals how we understand abstract concepts through physical analogies. Programmers think of text as strings because we imagine letters threaded together like beads, making the invisible digital world tangible through familiar objects.
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