8.1 Declarative Statements
  You use declarative statements to define objects in a
  BASIC program. Objects can be variables, arrays, constants,
  and user-defined functions within a program module. They
  can also be routines, variables, and constants external to
  the program module. Declarative statements always assign
  names to the objects declared and usually assign other at-
  tributes, such as a data type, to them. Declarative statements
  can also be used to define user-defined data types (RECORD
  statements). See Chapter 9 for more information about the
  RECORD statement.

  You use declarative statements to assign data types to:

  .
        Variables
  .
        Arrays
  .
        Named constants
  .
        Values returned by functions

  By declaring the objects used in your program, you make the
  program easier to understand, modify, and debug.