Data Structures are the programmatic way of storing data so that data can be used efficiently. Almost every enterprise application uses various types of data structures in one or the other way. This tutorial will give you a great understanding on Data Structures needed to understand the complexity of enterprise level applications and need of algorithms, and data structures.
We hope to cover following data structures and algorithms using C and java for now. :-)
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Arrays - An array in C/C++ or be it in any programming language is a collection of similar data items stored at contiguous memory locations and elements can be accessed randomly using indices of an array.
They can be used to store collection of primitive data types such as int, float, double, char, etc of any particular type. To add to it, an array in C/C++ can store derived data types such as the structures, pointers etc. Given below is the picture representation of an array. -
Stacks - Stack is a linear data structure that follows a particular order in which the operations are performed. The order may be LIFO(Last In First Out) or FILO(First In Last Out). Mainly the following basic operations are performed in the stack:
Push: Adds an item in the stack. If the stack is full, then it is said to be an Overflow condition.
Pop: Removes an item from the stack. The items are popped in the reversed order in which they are pushed. If the stack is empty, then it is said to be an Underflow condition.
Peek or Top: Returns the top element of the stack.
isEmpty: Returns true if the stack is empty, else false.
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Lists - Like arrays, Linked List is a linear data structure. Unlike arrays, linked list elements are not stored at a contiguous location; the elements are linked using pointers; So random access is not allowed.
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Trees - Unlike Arrays, Linked Lists, Stack and queues, which are linear data structures, trees are hierarchical data structures. A tree whose elements have at most 2 children is called a binary tree. Since each element in a binary tree can have only 2 children, we typically name them the left and right child. A Binary Tree node contains following parts.
Data Pointer to left child Pointer to right child -
Sorting - Sorting refers to arranging data in a particular format. Sorting algorithm specifies the way to arrange data in a particular order. Most common orders are in numerical or lexicographical order.
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Searching - Searching Algorithms are designed to check for an element or retrieve an element from any data structure where it is stored. Based on the type of search operation, these algorithms are generally classified into two categories:
Sequential Search: In this, the list or array is traversed sequentially and every element is checked. For example: Linear Search. Interval Search: These algorithms are specifically designed for searching in sorted data-structures. These type of searching algorithms are much more efficient than Linear Search as they repeatedly target the center of the search structure and divide the search space in half. For Example: Binary Search.
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Priority Queues