Red Hat Summit Red Hat SummitSupportConsoleDevelopersStart a trialContact

5.2. Data types

The SystemTap language includes a small number of data types, but no type declarations. A variable's type is inferred from its use. To support this inference, the translator enforces consistent typing of function arguments and return values, array indices and values. There are no implicit type conversions between strings and numbers. Inconsistent type-related use of identifiers signals an error.

5.2.1. Literals
Copy link

Literals are either strings or integers. Literals can be expressed as decimal, octal, or hexadecimal, using C notation. Type suffixes (e.g., L or U) are not used.

5.2.2. Integers
Copy link

Integers are decimal, hexadecimal, or octal, and use the same notation as in C. Integers are 64-bit signed quantities, although the parser also accepts (and wraps around) values above positive 263 but below 264.

5.2.3. Strings
Copy link

Strings are enclosed in quotation marks (“string”), and pass through standard C escape codes with backslashes. Strings are limited in length to MAXSTRINGLEN. For more information about this and other limits, see Section Section 1.6, “Safety and security”.

5.2.4. Associative arrays
Copy link

See Section Chapter 7, Associative arrays

5.2.5. Statistics
Copy link

See Section Chapter 8, Statistics (aggregates)
Back to top
Red Hat logoGithubredditYoutubeTwitter

Learn

Try, buy, & sell

Communities

About Red Hat Documentation

We help Red Hat users innovate and achieve their goals with our products and services with content they can trust. Explore our recent updates.

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. For more details, see the Red Hat Blog.

About Red Hat

We deliver hardened solutions that make it easier for enterprises to work across platforms and environments, from the core datacenter to the network edge.

Theme

© 2025 Red Hat