When deleting a step, what happens to the line numbers below the deleted address?

• A. All line numbers below the deleted address are renumbered accordingly.
• B. Line numbers remain the same.
• C. Line numbers become zero.
• D. Line numbers are deleted.

Answer: (A)

Line numbers are kept in a tight, continuous sequence to identify each step. When you delete a step, every subsequent step shifts up, so their numbers decrease accordingly. This preserves a clean, gap-free order and keeps any references to specific steps (like jumps or calls) valid, since the editor typically updates those references to match the new numbers. For example, removing step 4 in a sequence that goes 1–8 causes steps 5–8 to become 4–7. Keeping the numbers unchanged would create gaps and potential misreferences, while making them zero or deleting them would break the numbering system.