Questions regarding efficient storage and representation of data within a software application.
In computer science, a data structure is a data organization and storage format that enables efficient access and modification. More precisely, a data structure is a collection of data values, the relationships among them, and the functions or operations that can be applied to the data.
Different kinds of data structures are suited to different kinds of applications, and some are highly specialized to specific tasks. For example, relational databases commonly use B-tree indexes for data retrieval, while compiler implementations usually use hash tables to look up identifiers.
Data structures provide a means to manage large amounts of data efficiently for uses such as large databases and internet indexing services. Usually, efficient data structures are key to designing efficient algorithms.
Below is a list of some of the data structures and their variants:
- Dynamic arrays
- Linked lists
- Hash tables
- Binary trees
- Priority queues
- Radix trees
- Multiway trees
- Geometric trees
- Geometric structures
- Network connectivity structures
- Graphs
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