Final answer:
The stringToInteger and stringToReal functions serve to convert strings into numeric data types, with stringToInteger for integers and stringToReal for real numbers, allowing for numerical operations on string data.
Step-by-step explanation:
The purpose of the stringToInteger and stringToReal functions described in your chapter is to convert string data into numeric formats. Specifically, stringToInteger converts a string that represents an integer number into an actual integer data type, while stringToReal converts a string that represents a real number (usually a floating-point number) into a real number data type. This conversion is commonly required in programming when user input or text data needs to be used in numerical operations.