Which data type is typically used to represent textual data in programming?

The correct choice is the data type that specifically handles textual data. Strings are used in programming to represent sequences of characters, which can include letters, numbers, punctuation, and whitespace. This makes strings versatile for a wide range of applications, from displaying messages to managing user input.

Strings can be manipulated in various ways, such as concatenation (joining strings together), slicing (extracting portions of a string), and searching for substrings. Many programming languages have built-in functions or methods specifically designed for string manipulation, confirming their importance in handling textual data.

The other data types serve different purposes: integers represent whole numbers, floats handle decimal numbers, and booleans represent truth values (true or false). Each of these types is essential for their respective use cases, but none can represent textual data as effectively as strings.