Popular Data Structures That Are Easy to Use and Learn
Data structures are used to organize and store data in the system that helps you accomplish coding tasks efficiently. Different programmers use specific data structures per their needs and business requirements. However, several popular data structures exhibit the functionality of both computer science and software engineering. It is crucial to familiarize yourself with these new data structures because they will improve the quality of your code. Vijini Mallawaarachchi shares a list of popular data structures in an article for Towards Data Science.
List of Popular Data Structures
Arrays
An array helps you hold data items of the same type. The data items can be an array of integers, floating-point numbers, or an array of arrays. It allows random access to the data for better usability.
Linked List
A linked list consists of sequential items linked to each other in a linear order. It is one of the new data structures that provide flexible usage of data sets.
Stacks
Stacks work on the concept of LIFO (Last In First Out). Push and pop are the two popular operations of the stacks.
Queues
Queues follow the concept of FIFO (First In First Out). Enqueue and dequeue are the basic elements that help you execute data operations.
Hash Tables
Hash tables help you store data values that have keys associated with them. They enable you to insert and search specific data and save time.
Trees
Trees let you structure data in a hierarchal manner. They are different from a linked list where the data is linked in a linear order.
Heaps
A heap is one of the few data structures associated with other data structures. The heap is a special case of a binary tree where the parent nodes are compared to the children nodes, and their values are determined accordingly.
Graphs
A graph exhibits specific sets of vertices and edges. Mallawaarachchi mentions, “Two nodes are called adjacent if they are connected to each other by the same edge.”
Click on the link to read the original article:
https://towardsdatascience.com/8-common-data-structures-every-programmer-must-know-171acf6a1a42
