Introduction to data structures
Learn about data structures in an intuitive way
Data structures are item containers. We use them in our daily lives all the time. They allow us to store items and retrieve them at a latter time.
Let's take our pockets and wallets for example.
To store something into our pocket, we simply insert the item inside
the pocket.
To retrieve something from our pocket, we need to insert our hand
inside the pocket, fiddle around and recognize the desired item by
touch. If we don't succeed this way (e.g. there are many items), we
have to take every item out of the pocket and recognize the desired
item by sight.
We can conclude that a pocket is very convenient for storing items,
but it can be a slight challenge to retrieve an item.
Over to the wallet - to insert something into our wallet, we have to
open the wallet, find the right compartment and insert the item.
To retrieve something from our wallet, we need to open the wallet,
find the right compartment and retrieve the desired item. If we don't
know the right compartment (e.g. it's a new wallet) we need check
every compartment.
We can conclude that a wallet offers similar convenience for storing
and retrieving items.
Let's compare the pocket and wallet item containers.
- A pocket can store items more quickly compared to a wallet.
- A pocket can retrieve items more quickly compared to a wallet, but only for a few items. For more than 1-2 items, the wallet should retrieve items quicker than the pocket.
- A pocket does not offer any way to organize the items, whereas a wallet does.
We can conclude that both item containers can store and retrieve items. Depending on the needs, one or the other can be a better choice.
It's the same with data structures in programming. There are different data structures that store and retrieve data. They structure the data in different ways and are suitable for different objectives.
The next articles will cover different data structures. We will see how they store and retrieve data and what kind of objectives they are suitable for.
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