Janice Noynay Cabardo: BSCS, MIT (Units)

JANICE NOYNAY CABARDO
BSCS, MIT (Units)

Data Structure is a systematic way to
organize data in order to use it efficiently.
Following terms are the foundation terms of a data
structure.
Interface − Each data structure has an interface. Interface
represents the set of operations that a data structure
supports. An interface only provides the list of supported
operations, type of parameters they can accept and return
type of these operations.
Sample: data type i.e int, float, char
Implementation − Implementation provides the
internal representation of a data structure.
Implementation also provides the definition of
the algorithms used in the operations of the
data structure.
Characteristics of a Data Structure
• Correctness − Data structure implementation should

implement its interface correctly.
• Time Complexity − Running time or the execution time

of operations of data structure must be as small as
possible.
• Space Complexity − Memory usage of a data structure

operation should be as little as possible.
Why need a structure?
As applications are getting complex and data rich, there
are three common problems that applications face now-a-
days.
• Data Search − Consider an inventory of 1 million(106)

items of a store. If the application is to search an item, it
has to search an item in 1 million(106) items every time
slowing down the search. As data grows, search will
become slower.
• Processor speed − Processor speed although being very
high, falls limited if the data grows to billion records.
• Multiple requests − As thousands of users can search
data simultaneously on a web server, even the fast server
fails while searching the data.
To solve the above-mentioned problems, data
structures come to rescue.
Data can be organized in a data structure in such a

way that all items may not be required to be searched, and
the required data can be searched almost instantly.
Execution Time Cases
There are three cases which are usually used to compare various
data structure's execution time in a relative manner.
Worst Case − This is the scenario where a particular data

structure operation takes maximum time it can take. If an
operation's worst case time is ƒ(n) then this operation will
not take more than ƒ(n) time where ƒ(n) represents
function of n.
Sample: If a certain scenario takes a lot of time during
execution, considered at most.
Average Case − This is the scenario depicting the average
execution time of an operation of a data structure. If an
operation takes ƒ(n) time in execution, then m operations
will take mƒ(n) time.
And is considered neutral.
Best Case − This is the scenario depicting the least
possible execution time of an operation of a data structure.
If an operation takes ƒ(n) time in execution, then the
actual operation may take time as the random number
which would be maximum as ƒ(n).
Data Structures - Algorithms Basics
Algorithm is a step-by-step procedure, which defines

a set of instructions to be executed in a certain order to get
the desired output.
Algorithms are generally created independent of

underlying languages, i.e. an algorithm can be
implemented in more than one programming language.
From the data structure point of view,
following are some important categories of
algorithms;
• Search − Algorithm to search an item in a data structure.

• Sort − Algorithm to sort items in a certain order.
• Insert − Algorithm to insert item in a data structure.
• Update − Algorithm to update an existing item in a data
structure.
• Delete − Algorithm to delete an existing item from a data
structure.
Characteristics of an Algorithm
Not all procedures can be called an algorithm. An
algorithm should have the following characteristics −
• Unambiguous − Algorithm should be clear and
unambiguous. Each of its steps (or phases), and their
inputs/outputs should be clear and must lead to only
one meaning.
Sample of ambiguous algorithm; 1. Take 2 pieces of
bread 2. put peanut butter on one side of one piece 3. Put
jelly on one side of the other piece 4. Put the pieces
together 5. The output is a MESSY SANDWICH!
WHY?
• Input − An algorithm should have 0 or more well-defined
inputs.
• Output − An algorithm should have 1 or more well-
defined outputs, and should match the desired output.
• Finiteness − Algorithms must terminate after a finite
number of steps.
• Feasibility − Should be feasible with the available
resources.
• Independent − An algorithm should have step-by-step
directions, which should be independent of any
programming code.

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JANICE NOYNAY CABARDO

BSCS, MIT (Units)

• Correctness − Data structure implementation should

• Time Complexity − Running time or the execution time

• Space Complexity − Memory usage of a data structure

• Data Search − Consider an inventory of 1 million(106)

Data can be organized in a data structure in such a

Worst Case − This is the scenario where a particular data

Algorithm is a step-by-step procedure, which defines

Algorithms are generally created independent of

• Search − Algorithm to search an item in a data structure.

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