07 Mar 2024
A data structure is a way of organizing and storing data in a computer so that it can be accessed and manipulated efficiently. It defines the layout of the data and the operations that can be performed on it.
Data structures are fundamental to computer science and programming because they allow programmers to solve complex problems by representing data in a structured and organized manner. Different data structures are designed to optimize specific operations, such as insertion, deletion, searching, and sorting.
Some common data structures include:
- Arrays: An ordered collection of elements, where each element can be accessed using an index.
- Linked Lists: A sequence of elements where each element points to the next element in the sequence.
- Stacks: A collection of elements with two main operations: push (adds an element to the top) and pop (removes the top element).
- Queues: A collection of elements with two main operations: enqueue (adds an element to the back) and dequeue (removes the front element).
- Trees: Hierarchical data structures consisting of nodes, where each node has a value and a set of child nodes.
- Graphs: A collection of nodes (vertices) and edges that connect pairs of nodes.
Each data structure has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of data structure depends on the specific requirements of the problem being solved and the operations that need to be performed efficiently.
