Data Structures

INTRODUCTION:

• Data Structures is a representation of the logical relationship existing between the individual elements of data.
• It is the way of organizing all data items that considers not only the elements stored but also their relationship to each other.

• It specifies:
• Organization of data
• Accessing Methods
• Degree of associativity 
• Processing alternatives for information
• ALGORITHM + DATA STRUCTURE = PROGRAM  

 PRIMITIVE DATA STRUCTURES:

• Directly operated by machine instructions.
• Different representations on different computers.
• Examples include int, float, char, pointer, etc.

 NON-PRIMITIVE DATA STRUCTURES:

• Derived from primitive data structures.
• Forms a group of Homogeneous or Heterogeneous data structures.

1. LINEAR DATA STRUCTURES:
• Elements are connected in a linear fashion in sequence memory locations.
• Can be traverses in a single run.
• There are two ways to represent linear data structure in memory: 
• Static Memory Allocation
• Dynamic Memory Allocation
• Examples include STACK and QUEUE.
2.  NON-LINEAR DATA STRUCTURES:
• Data items are not arranged in a sequence.
• Cannot be traversed in a single run.
• Examples include TREE and GRAPHS.