Data is an inert record of facts about events. Unlike executable code, it cannot run; it becomes meaningful when interpreted, and the same record can support different uses. section 1.21 section 1.10
Recognize data by these practical properties:
- It is transparent and easier to understand, store, transmit, and reuse than executable code. section 1.38 section 3.11
- It records facts such as an email address, bank amount, customer order, receipt, recipe, or coupon record. section 3.1 section 2.7
- It can be composed only of more data, giving it predictable behavior and making immutable records useful. section 3.3 section 3.11
- It belongs beside actions and calculations: a message is data, while sending it is an action and deciding its contents is a calculation. section 1.13 section 3.10
Coupon email process
A database query produces subscriber and coupon records as data. A calculation turns those records into a list of planned emails; an action later sends them. In JavaScript, records can be plain objects, collections can be arrays, and values such as coupon ranks can be strings. section 3.5 section 3.6
Use the diagram to connect recorded facts with multiple ways of organizing, preserving, and using data. section 1.21
