Delimiter

A delimiter is a sequence of one or more <a href="/facts/Character_(computing)/X2zKLFFB">characters</a> for specifying the boundary between separate, independent regions in <a href="/facts/Plain_text/TSlSSAg2">plain text</a>, <a href="/facts/Expression_(mathematics)/MPrMlYbE">mathematical expressions</a> or other <a href="/facts/Data_stream/57yDhBCd">data streams</a>. An example of a delimiter is the <a href="/facts/Comma/mcW9dcGT">comma</a> character, which acts as a field delimiter in a sequence of <a href="/facts/Comma-separated_values/dv1pSR1r">comma-separated values</a>. Another example of a delimiter is the time gap used to separate letters and words in the transmission of <a href="/facts/Morse_code/GXwCl1HV">Morse code</a>.
In <a href="/facts/Mathematics/pxTouaz4">mathematics</a>, delimiters are often used to specify the scope of an <a href="/facts/Operation_(mathematics)/Yplv602Q">operation</a>, and can occur both as isolated symbols (e.g., <a href="/facts/Colon_(punctuation)/se9fjJa4">colon</a> in "
 
 
 
 1
 :
 4
 
 
 {\displaystyle 1:4}
 
") and as a pair of opposing-looking symbols (e.g., <a href="/facts/Angled_bracket/yzGM9J8A">angled brackets</a> in 
 
 
 
 ⟨
 a
 ,
 b
 ⟩
 
 
 {\displaystyle \langle a,b\rangle }
 
).
Delimiters represent one of various means of specifying boundaries in a <a href="/facts/Data_stream/57yDhBCd">data stream</a>. <a href="/facts/String_literal/Fj41vtVm">Declarative notation</a>, for example, is an alternate method (without the use of delimiters) that uses a length field at the start of a data stream to specify the number of characters that the data stream contains.

Delimiter open-in-new

Delimiter