What is data structure
Data structure is essentially a specialized format for organizing, storing, processing, and retrieving data efficiently. We have difference data structure format to store and serve for difference purpose. You can image like this you have a cooking book and want to read how to make a beef steak. It would be easier if the book arranged by category by difference way to cook (like chicken, eggs, beef). It’s basically a data structure
Here are some common types of data structure
- Arrays: Ordered collections of items, where each item has a specific position, can access through index. It’s good for random access but slow for insertions/deletions in the middle
- Linked Lists: Flexible sequences of data elements, each elements called node links to each other by pointer, image it like a train, good for insertion/deletions but slow for random access
- Stacks: Like a stack of plates, follow a LIFO (Last-In-First-out) principle
- Queue: Like queue of people want to buy coffee from coffee shop, follow a FIFO (First-In-First-Out) principle
- Hash table: Store data on a key-value pairing system. With key we can access value instantly O(1)
What is algorithms
An algorithms is a set of well-defined instructions that provide a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or performing a task
Here is some common types of algorithms
- Sorting Algorithms: Arrange data in a specific order (bubble sort, quick sort …)
- Searching algorithms: Locate a specific element within a dataset
- Traversal Algorithms: Visit each element in a data structure (print all node in binary tree)
The efficiency of an algorithms is crucial, we can consider by these two factors:
- Time complexity: How much time (steps) does this algorithms take to execute as the input size grows
- Space complexity: How much memory does the algorithms require to run
This overview of data structure and algorithms has hopefully equipped you basic understanding about the needs of this in order to write more efficiently code, the beaty of DSA lies in the power of choice.
