What is the term for the initial process of giving a variable both a name and a data type?

The term that describes the initial process of giving a variable both a name and a data type is known as variable declaration. During variable declaration, the programmer specifies the type of data that the variable will hold (such as integer, string, or boolean) alongside a unique name for that variable. This step is crucial in strongly typed programming languages, where data types must be explicitly defined prior to use, ensuring that the correct data operations can be performed on the variable.

In the context of programming, variable declaration provides clarity and bolsters type safety, as it helps to prevent errors that might arise from data type mismatches. This process is distinct from variable assignment, which is when a value is assigned to the variable after it has been declared, and from variable initialization, which often refers to both declaring a variable and assigning it an initial value in a single step, though some may use it to mean one of these steps specifically. The term data typing may refer to the broader concept of defining types in programming, but it does not specifically denote the act of creating a variable with a name and a type.