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Data Structure1

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11 views1 page

Data Structure1

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nmc
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Data Structure:

A data structure is a specialized format for organizing, processing, retrieving and storing data. There are several basic
and advanced types of data structures, all designed to arrange data to suit a specific purpose. Data structures make it
easy for users to access and work with the data they need in appropriate ways. Most importantly, data structures
frame the organization of information so that machines and humans can better understand it.

In computer science and computer programming, a data structure may be selected or designed to store data for the
purpose of using it with various algorithms. In some cases, the algorithm's basic operations are tightly coupled to the
data structure's design. Each data structure contains information about the data values, relationships between the
data and -- in some cases -- functions that can be applied to the data.

For instance, in an object-oriented programming language, the data structure and its associated methods are bound
together as part of a class definition. In non-object-oriented languages, there may be functions defined to work with
the data structure, but they are not technically part of the data structure.

Why are data structures important?

Typical base data types, such as integers or floating-point values, that are available in most computer programming
languages are generally insufficient to capture the logical intent for data processing and use. Yet applications that
ingest, manipulate and produce information must understand how data should be organized to simplify processing.
Data structures bring together the data elements in a logical way and facilitate the effective use, persistence and
sharing of data. They provide a formal model that describes the way the data elements are organized.

Data structures are the building blocks for more sophisticated applications. They are designed by composing data
elements into a logical unit representing an abstract data type that has relevance to the algorithm or application. An
example of an abstract data type is a "customer name" that is composed of the character strings for "first name,"
"middle name" and "last name."

It is not only important to use data structures, but it is also important to choose the proper data structure for each
task. Choosing an ill-suited data structure could result in slow runtimes or unresponsive code. Five factors to consider
when picking a data structure include the following:

What kind of information will be stored?

How will that information be used?

Where should data persist, or be kept, after it is created?

What is the best way to organize the data?

What aspects of memory and storage reservation management should be considered?

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