A variable is just a handy place to keep something, a place with a name, so you
know where to find your special something when you come back looking for it
later. As in real life, there are various kinds of places to store things, some of them
rather private, and some of them out in public. Some places are temporary, and
other places are more permanent. Computer scientists love to talk about the
“scope” of variables, but that’s all they mean by it.