Final answer:
The char data type is used to store single characters or small integer values and usually occupies one byte of memory.
Step-by-step explanation:
The char data type is used to hold single characters or very small integer values. In most programming languages, such as C and Java, the char data type usually occupies a single byte of memory. A byte of memory can hold 256 different values, which allows a char to represent various characters by associating them with numeric codes such as those defined by the ASCII or Unicode standards. If treated as an integer, a char data type can typically range from 0 to 255 (unsigned) or -128 to 127 (signed), depending on whether the character set is unsigned or signed.