Data Structure and Algorithms

Data Structure: Introduction

Puneet Kumar Jain

CSE Department
National Institute of Technology Rourkela
 This lecture: outlines
 What is Data?
 What is Data type?
 What is abstract data type?
 What is Data Structure?
 Why Data Structure?
 What are different types of Data Structure?
 Why different data structure?

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”

 Data
 Data etymologically derives from the Latin word “datum,” which
roughly translates to “something given”.

 Data: (oxford dictionary)

 facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis
 Things known or assumed as facts, making the basis of reasoning or
calculation.

 Data is plain facts, observations, statistics, characters, symbols,

images, numbers, and more that are collected and can be
used for analysis. (TechDifferences)

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”

 Data Type
 Data Type:
 A data type is a collection of values and a set of operation that act
on those values
 Defines the behavior and operations associated with data type

 Primitive
 Integer, Character, Float

 Non-primitive (Complex)
 String
 Arrays etc.

Img ref: http://java.meritcampus.com/core-java-topics/java-data-types

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Abstract data type
 Abstract data type:
 Only provides concept (rules)
 One has to implement their own

 ADT is a specification that describes a data set and the operation

on that data. for example using lists (insert, delete), queues
(enqueue, dequqeue), stacks (push and pop), etc.

 The process of hiding implementation details is known as

encapsulation.

 In contrast, a Data Structure is an implementation of an ADT

within a programming language.

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”

 Data Structure
 Data structure: Data structure is a representation/organization of
data and the operations allowed on that data efficiently*
 Storing,
 Accessing, and
 Modifying data
Ex:

 Data Structure are the method of representing of logical

relationships between individual data elements related to the
solution of a given problem
*Efficiently: low time complexity and space complexity.
Img ref: https://medium.com/@Adi_Wang1476/stack-and-queue-1823effb6cc
NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Data structure and algorithm
 Data Structure:
 A data structure is a systematic way of organizing and accessing data

 Algorithm:
 An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem

 Algorithms and Data Structures go hand-in-hand:

 Certain Algorithms require certain data structures to run efficiently
and vice-versa in a finite amount of time.

Ref: https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/cs213 /00-Intro.pdf (iitb.ac.in)

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Different Data structure

Data
Structure

Linear Non-linear

Array, Linked list, Stack, Queue Tree, Graph

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”

 Linear vs Non-linear

Reference: https://medium.com/basecs/whats-a-linked-list-anyway-part-1-d8b7e6508b9d
NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Why different data structure
 There is no ultimate data structure...
 The choice depends on our requirements

1. Application based: It must enrich enough in structure to

represent the relationship between data elements
 Write to-do list (Array, List)
 Queue at ATMs (Queue)
 Arrange stack of books (Stack)
 Look-up words in dictionary (Look-up table, hash map)
 Organize directories in computers (Tree)
 Plan road map to go somewhere (Graph)

Ref:https://slideplayer.com/slide/1450967/
NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Why different data structure
2. Frequent operation: The structure should be simple enough that
one can electively process the data when necessary
 Traversing: to access every record at once
 Searching: to find a location of the record using key
 Insertion: adding a new record
 Deletion: remove a record from the structure
 Sorting: arranging items in a sequence ordered by some criterion
 Merging: combine

Operations
Special operations

Traversing Searching Insertion Deletion Sorting Merging

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”

 Why different data structure
 Structures and algorithms are required for efficient work in all
walks of daily life.
 Examples: Hostel-room analogy: –
 A “cluttered” room: quick to store but takes time to find items
 An “organized” room: quick to find items but takes time to store

 Points: – For each “application” a different structure may be

required – Depending on the structure, the process of using it
efficiently will be different

Ref: https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/cs213 /00-Intro.pdf (iitb.ac.in)

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Why different data structure: example
 Suppose you have a list of integers (some arbitrary values)
 You have to read these integers one by one and store them in
some “data structure”, A, for the following purpose:
 I should be able to find and remove the max integer from this list
 Functions
 add_number (A,i) – adds number i to A
 find_max (A) - returns the max from A
 remove_max (A) – removes max from A

Ref: https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/cs213 /00-Intro.pdf (iitb.ac.in)

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Cont…

Ref: https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/cs213 /00-Intro.pdf (iitb.ac.in)

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Why different data structure
 Consider accessing the kth entry in an array or linked list
 In an array, we can access it using an index array[k]
 Array[k]= Base_address+(k*size)
 We must step through the first k – 1 nodes in a linked list

 Consider searching for an entry in a sorted array or linked list

 In a sorted array, we use a fast binary search
 We must step through all entries less than the entry we’re looking for

array [0] [1] [2]

Array A B C

node
linked
Linked list A B C

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”

 Why different data structure
 However, consider inserting a new entry to the start of an array or a
linked list
 An array requires that you copy all the elements in the array over

 A linked list allows you to make the insertion very quickly

 Very fast regardless of size

Ref: https://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~dwharder/aads/, Douglas Wilhelm Harder, M.Math, LEL, University of Waterloo

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Operations on Sorted array
Given an sorted array, we have the following run times:

Arbitrary
Front/1st Back/nth
Location
Find Good Okay Good
Insert Bad Bad Good
Erase Bad Bad Good

ref: ouglas Wilhelm Harder, M.Math. LEL, University of Waterloo

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Operations on Sorted array
If the array is not sorted, only one operations changes:

Arbitrary
Front/1st Back/nth
Location
Find Good Bad Good
Insert Bad Bad Good
Erase Bad Bad Good

Dref: ouglas Wilhelm Harder, M.Math. LEL, University of Waterloo

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Operations on Lists
However, for a singly linked list where we a head and tail
pointer, we have:

Arbitrary
Front/1st Back/nth
Location
Find Good Bad Good
Insert Good Bad Good
Erase Good Bad Bad

Dref: ouglas Wilhelm Harder, M.Math. LEL, University of Waterloo

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Designing Data Structures
 Each data structure has costs and benefits.
 Rarely is one data structure better than another in all situations.
 A data structure requires:
 space for each data item it stores,
 time to perform each basic operation,
 programming effort.
 Each problem has constraints on available time and space.
 Only after a careful analysis of problem characteristics and
solution requirements can we know the best data structure for
the task

Ref: https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/cs213 /00-Intro.pdf (iitb.ac.in)

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Selecting Data Structures
 Select a data structure as follows
 Analyze the problem to determine the resource constraints a
solution must meet.
 Determine basic operations that must be supported. Quantify
resource constraints for each operation.
 Select the data structure that best meets these requirements.
 Some questions to ask: –
 Are all the data inserted into the structure at the beginning or are
insertions interspersed with other operations?
 Can data be deleted?
 Are the data processed in some well-defined order, or is random
access allowed?

Ref: https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/cs213 /00-Intro.pdf (iitb.ac.in)

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Logical vs. Physical Form
 Data items have both a logical and a physical form.
 Logical form: definition of the data item within an ADT.
 Physical form: implementation of the data item within a data
structure.

 For example, the concept (logical form) of a list could be

implemented (physical form) using an array or a linked list

Ref: https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/cs213 /00-Intro.pdf (iitb.ac.in)

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
 Memory allocation

https://medium.com/basecs/whats-a-linked-list-anyway-part-1-d8b7e6508b9d
NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”
• End of Chapter

NIT Rourkela Puneet Kumar Jain “Data Structure and Algorithms”