This chapter explains the basic terms related to a data structure.
Data Definition
Data Definition defines a particular data with the following
characteristics.
Atomic - Definition should define a
single concept.
Traceable - Definition should be able
to be mapped to some data element.
Accurate - Definition should be
unambiguous.
Clear and Concise - Definition should
be understandable.
Data Object
Data Object represents an object having data.
Data Type
A data type is a way to classify various types of data such as
integer, string, etc. which determines the values that can be used with the
corresponding type of data, the type of operations that can be performed on the
corresponding type of data. There are two data types -
- Built-in Data Type
- Derived Data Type
Built-in Data Type
Those data types for which a language has built-in support
are known as Built-in Datatypes. For example, most of the languages provide
the following built-in data types.
- Integers
- Boolean (true, false)
- Floating (Decimal numbers)
- Character and Strings
Derived Data Type
Those data types which are implementation-independent as
they can be implemented in one or the other way are known as derived data
types. These data types are normally built by the combination of primary or
built-in data types and associated operations on them.
For example -
·
List
·
Array
·
Files
List derived into two types:
- Linear Lists
- Non-Linear Lists
Examples of Linear lists are Stacks & Queues.
& Example of Non-Linear Lists is Trees and Graphs.
Basic Operations
The data in the data structures are processed by certain operations. The particular data structure was chosen largely depends on the frequency of the operation that needs to be performed on the data structure.
- Traversing
- Searching
- Insertion
- Deletion
- Sorting
- Merging
