Data Structure and Algorithms

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Introduction to Data Structure

Data structure is a representation of logical relationship existing between

individual elements of data. In other words, a data structure defines a way
of organizing all data items that considers not only the elements stored but
also their relationship to each other. The term data structure is used to
describe the way data is stored.

To develop a program of an algorithm we should select an appropriate data

structure for that algorithm. Therefore, data structure is represented as:

Algorithm + Data structure = Program

A data structure is said to be linear if its elements form a sequence or a

linear list. The linear data structures like an array, stacks, queues and linked
lists organize data in linear order. A data structure is said to be non linear
if its elements form a hierarchical classification where, data items appear
at various levels.

Trees and Graphs are widely used non-linear data structures. Tree and
graph structures represents hierarchial relationship between individual data
elements. Graphs are nothing but trees with certain restrictions removed.

Due to the complexity of applications and the daily growth in data, there
may be issues with processing speed, data searching, handling
numerous requests, etc. Data structure offers a method for effectively
managing, organising, and storing data. Data structures make it simple
to navigate through the data elements. Data structures offer productivity,
reuse, and abstraction. Because storing and retrieving user data as
quickly as feasible is a program's primary job, it plays a significant role in
improving performance.

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Types of Data Structure

Data structures are divided into two types:

• Primitive data structures.

• Non-primitive data structures.

➔ Primitive Data Structure :

Primitive Data Structures are the basic data structures that directly
operate upon the machine instructions. They have different representations
on different computers. Integers, floating point numbers, character
constants, string constants and pointers come under this category.

➔ Non-Primitive Data Structure :

Non-primitive data structures are more complicated data structures and
are derived from primitive data structures. They emphasize on grouping
same or different data items with relationship between each data item.
Arrays, lists and files come under this category. Figure shows the
classification of data structures.

Data Structures

Primitive data Structures Non-Primitive data Structures

Integer Float Char Pointer Arrays Lists Files

Linear Lists Non-Linear Lists

Stacks Queues Graphs Trees

Figure : Classification of Data Structures.

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The non-primitive data structure is divided into two types:

o Linear data structure

o Non-linear data structure

➔ Linear Data Structure

In linear data structures, the elements are arranged in sequence one

after the other.
Elements are arranged in particular order, they are easy to implement.

Popular linear data structures are:

1. Array Data Structure

In an array, elements in memory are arranged in continuous memory. All

the elements of an array are of the same type. And, the type of elements
that can be stored in the form of arrays is determined by the programming
language.

An array with each element represented by an index

2. Stack Data Structure

In stack data structure, elements are stored in the LIFO principle. That is,
the last element stored in a stack will be removed first.

It works just like a pile of plates where the last plate kept on the pile will
be removed first.

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Data Structure and Algorithms

In a stack, operations can be perform only from one end (top here).

3. Queue Data Structure

Unlike stack, the queue data structure works in the FIFO principle where
first element stored in the queue will be removed first.

It works just like a queue of people in the ticket counter where first
person on the queue will get the ticket first.

In a queue, addition and removal are performed from separate ends.

4. Linked List Data Structure

In linked list data structure, data elements are connected through a series
of nodes. And, each node contains the data items and address to the next
node.

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Data Structure and Algorithms

A linked list

➔ Non-Linear Data Structure

Unlike linear data structures, elements in non-linear data structures are not
in any sequence. Instead they are arranged in a hierarchical manner where
one element will be connected to one or more elements.

Non-linear data structures are further divided into graph and tree based
data structures.

1. Graph Data Structure

In graph data structure, each node is called vertex and each vertex is
connected to other vertices through edges.

Graph data structure example

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Data Structure and Algorithms

2. Trees Data Structure

Similar to a graph, a tree is also a collection of vertices and edges. However,

in tree data structure, there can only be one edge between two vertices.

Tree data structure example

➔ Linear Vs Non-linear Data Structures

Now that we know about linear and non-linear data structures, let's see
the major differences between them.

Non Linear Data

Linear Data Structures
Structures

• The data items are arranged in The data items are arranged in
sequential order, one after the non-sequential order
other. (hierarchical manner).

• All the items are present on the The data items are present at
single layer. different layers.

• It can be traversed on a single It requires multiple runs. That

run. That is, if we start from the is, if we start from the first
first element, we can traverse element it might not be possible
all the elements sequentially in to traverse all the elements in a
a single pass. single pass.

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Data Structure and Algorithms

Different structures utilize

• The memory utilization is not
memory in different efficient
efficient.
ways depending on the need.

• The time complexity increase Time complexity remains the

with the data size. same.

• Example: Arrays, Stack, Queue Example: Tree, Graph, Map

Data structures: Organization of data

The collection of data you work with in a program have some kind of
structure or organization. No matter how complex your data structures are
they can be broken down into two fundamental types:

• Contiguous
• Non-Contiguous

➔Contiguous Structures

In contiguous structures, terms of data are kept together in memory

(either RAM or in a file). An array is an example of a contiguous structure.
Since each element in the array is located next to one or two other
elements.

➔Non-Contiguous Structures

Items in a non-contiguous structure and scattered in memory, but we

linked to each other in some way. A linked list is an example of a non-
contiguous data structure. Here, the nodes of the list are linked together
using pointers stored in each node.

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Data Structure and Algorithms

Figure below illustrates the difference between contiguous and non-

contiguous structures.

1 2 3 1 2 2
(a) Non-Contiguous (b) Non-Contiguous

Figure : Contiguous and Non-contiguous structures compared

➔Hybrid structures

If two basic types of structures are mixed then it is a hybrid form. Then one
part contiguous and another part non-contiguous.

For example, figure shows how to implement a double–linked list using

three parallel arrays, possibly stored a past from each other in memory.

A B C (a) Conceptual Structure

D P N

1 A 3 4

2 B
A 4 0
(b) Hybrid Structure
3 C 0 1

4 D 1 2

List Head

Figure : A double linked list via a hybrid data structure

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The array D contains the data for the list, whereas the array P and N hold
the previous and next “pointers’’. The pointers are actually nothing more
than indexes into the D array. For instance, D[i] holds the data for node i
and p[i] holds the index to the node previous to i, where may or may not
reside at position i–1. Like wise, N[i] holds the index to the next node in
the list.

Operation of Data Structure

Data structure operations are the methods used to manipulate the data in
a data structure. The most common data structure operations are:

• Traversal : Traversal operations are used to visit each node in a data

structure in a specific order. This technique is typically employed for
printing, searching, displaying, and reading the data stored in a
data structure.

• Insertion : Insertion operations add new data elements to a data

structure. You can do this at the data structure's beginning, middle,
or end.

• Deletion : Deletion operations remove data elements from a data

structure. These operations are typically performed on nodes that are
no longer needed.

• Search : Search operations are used to find a specific data element

in a data structure. These operations typically employ a compare
function to determine if two data elements are equal.

• Sort : Sort operations are used to arrange the data elements in a

data structure in a specific order. This can be done using various
sorting algorithms, such as insertion sort, bubble sort, merge sort,
and quick sort.

• Merge : Merge operations are used to combine two data structures

into one. This operation is typically used when two data structures
need to be combined into a single structure.

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• Copy : Copy operations are used to create a duplicate of a data

structure. This can be done by copying each element in the original
data structure to the new one.

Application of Data Structure

Data structures have many applications, such as:

➔ Data Storage:

Data structures facilitate efficient data persistence, like specifying attribute

collections and corresponding structures used in database management
systems to store records.

➔ Data Exchange:

Organized information, defined by data structures, can be shared between

applications like TCP/IP packets.

➔ Resource and Service Management:

Data structures such as linked lists can enable core operating systems
resources and services to perform functions like file directory management,
memory allocation, and processing scheduling queues.

➔ Scalability:

Big data applications rely on data structures to manage and allocate data
storage across many distributed storage locations. This function guarantees
scalability and high performance.

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Advantages of Data structures

• Data structure facilitates effective data storage in storage devices.

• The use of data structures makes it easier to retrieve data from a

storage device.

• The data structure allows for the effective and efficient processing of
both little and big amounts of data.

• Manipulation of vast amounts of data is simple when a proper data

structure technique is used.

• The use of a good data structure may assist a programmer to save a

lot of time or processing time while performing tasks such as data
storage, retrieval, or processing.

• Most well-organized data structures, including stacks, arrays, graphs,

queues, trees, and linked lists, have well-built and pre-planned
approaches for operations such as storage, addition, retrieval,
modification, and deletion. The programmer may totally rely on these
facts while utilising them.

• Data structures such as arrays, trees, linked lists, stacks, graphs, and
so on are thoroughly verified and proved, so anybody may use them
directly without the need for study and development. If you opt to
design your own data structure, you may need to do some study, but
it will almost certainly be to answer a problem that is more
sophisticated than what these can supply.

• In the long term, data structure utilization might merely encourage

reusability.

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