DESIGN TOKENS AND VARIABLES

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

Design tokens and variables link names to specific values but differ in scope and purpose. While variables in programming can hold dynamic values and are specific to certain environments like CSS or Sass, design tokens represent design decisions applied consistently across platforms. This distinction ensures a uniform look and feel, with design tokens acting as a technology-agnostic source of truth, unlike tool-specific variables in Figma or Sketch.