Data Structure and Types
In this article, you will learn about data structure and its types.
What are Data Structures?
Data structure is a storage that is used to store and organize data. It is a way
of arranging data on a computer so that it can be accessed and updated
efficiently.
Depending on your requirement and project, it is important to choose the right
data structure for your project. For example, if you want to store data
sequentially in the memory, then you can go for the Array data structure.
Array data Structure Representation
Note: Data structure and data types are slightly different. Data structure is the
collection of data types arranged in a specific order.
Types of Data Structure
Basically, data structures are divided into two categories:
• Linear data structure
• Non-linear data structure
Linear data structures
In linear data structures, the elements are arranged in sequence one after the
other. Since elements are arranged in particular order, they are easy to
implement.
However, when the complexity of the program increases, the linear data
structures might not be the best choice because of operational complexities.
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.
In a stack, operations can be performed 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.
A linked list
Non-linear data structures
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
Popular Graph Based Data Structures:
• Spanning Tree and Minimum Spanning Tree
• Strongly Connected Components
• Adjacency Matrix
• Adjacency List
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
Popular Tree based Data Structure
• Binary Tree
• Binary Search Tree
• AVL Tree
• B-Tree
• B+ Tree
• Red-Black Tree
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.
Linear Data Structures Non Linear Data Structures
The data items are arranged in sequential The data items are arranged in non-
order, one after the other. sequential order (hierarchical manner).
All the items are present on the single The data items are present at different
layer. layers.
It can be traversed on a single run. That It requires multiple runs. That is, if we
is, if we start from the first element, we start from the first element it might not
can traverse all the elements sequentially be possible to traverse all the elements
in a single pass. in a single pass.
Different structures utilize memory in
The memory utilization is not efficient. different efficient ways depending on
the need.
The time complexity increase with the
Time complexity remains the same.
data size.
Example: Arrays, Stack, Queue Example: Tree, Graph, Map
Why Data Structure?
Knowledge about data structures help you understand the working of each
data structure. And, based on that you can select the right data structures for
your project.
This helps you write memory and time efficient code.
