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In computer science, a data structure is a way of storing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently. Often a carefully chosen data structure will allow the most efficient algorithm to be used. The choice of the data structure often begins from the choice of an abstract data type. A well-designed data structure allows a variety of critical operations to be performed, using as few resources, both execution time and memory space, as possible. Data structures are implemented using the data types, references and operations on them provided by a programming language.

Different kinds of data structures are suited to different kinds of applications, and some are highly specialized to certain tasks. For example, B-trees are particularly well-suited for implementation of databases, while routing tables rely on networks of machines to function.

In the design of many types of programs, the choice of data structures is a primary design consideration, as experience in building large systems has shown that the difficulty of implementation and the quality and performance of the final result depends heavily on choosing the best data structure. After the data structures are chosen, the algorithms to be used often become relatively obvious. Sometimes things work in the opposite direction - data structures are chosen because certain key tasks have algorithms that work best with particular data structures. In either case, the choice of appropriate data structures is crucial.

This insight has given rise to many formalised design methods and programming languages in which data structures, rather than algorithms, are the key organising factor. Most languages feature some sort of module system, allowing data structures to be safely reused in different applications by hiding their verified implementation details behind controlled interfaces. Object-oriented programming languages such as C++ and Java in particular use classes for this purpose.

Since data structures are so crucial, many of them are included in standard libraries of modern programming languages and environments, such as C++'s Standard Template Library, the Java Collections Framework, and the Microsoft .NET Framework.

The fundamental building blocks of most data structures are arrays, records, discriminated unions, and references. For example, the nullable reference, a reference which can be null, is a combination of references and discriminated unions, and the simplest linked data structure, the linked list, is built from records and nullable references.

Data structures represent implementations or interfaces: A data structure can be viewed as an interface between two functions or as an implementation of methods to access storage that is organized according to the associated data type.

Common data structures

Main article: List of data structures

See also

External links

Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
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For other uses, see Data (disambiguation).


Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa (or DATA) is a multinational non-government organization founded in January 2002 in London by U2's Bono along with Bobby Shriver and activists from the Jubilee 2000 Drop
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In computer science, efficiency is used to describe several desirable properties of an algorithm or other construct, besides clean design, functionality, etc. Efficiency is generally contained in two properties: speed (the time it takes for an operation to complete), and space (the
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In mathematics, computing, linguistics, and related disciplines, an algorithm is a finite list of well-defined instructions for accomplishing some task that, given an initial state, will proceed through a well-defined series of successive states, eventually terminating in an
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In computing, an abstract data type (ADT) is a specification of a set of data and the set of operations that can be performed on the data. Such a data type is abstract in the sense that it is independent of various concrete implementations.
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In programming languages a data type defines a set of values and the allowable operations on those values[1]. For example, in the Java programming language, the "int" type represents the set of 32-bit integers ranging in value from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647, and
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reference is an object containing information which refers to data stored elsewhere, as opposed to containing the data itself. Accessing the value referred to by a reference is called dereferencing it.
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A programming language is an artificial language that can be used to control the behavior of a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages, like natural languagess, are defined by syntactic and semantic rules which describe their structure and meaning respectively.
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B-tree is a tree data structure that keeps data sorted and allows searches, insertions, and deletions in logarithmic amortized time. It is most commonly used in databases and filesystems.
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In computer networking a routing table, or Routing Information Base (RIB), is an electronic table (file) or database type object that is stored in a router or a networked computer.
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In mathematics, computing, linguistics, and related disciplines, an algorithm is a finite list of well-defined instructions for accomplishing some task that, given an initial state, will proceed through a well-defined series of successive states, eventually terminating in an
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A programming language is an artificial language that can be used to control the behavior of a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages, like natural languagess, are defined by syntactic and semantic rules which describe their structure and meaning respectively.
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Modularity is a concept that has applications in the contexts of computer science, particularly programming, as well as cognitive science in investigating the structure of mind.
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Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that uses "objects" and their interactions to design applications and computer programs. It is based on several techniques, including inheritance, modularity, polymorphism, and encapsulation.
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C++
Paradigm: Multi-paradigm
Appeared in: 1983
Designed by: Bjarne Stroustrup
Typing discipline: Static, unsafe, nominative
Major implementations: G++, Microsoft Visual C++, Borland C++ Builder
Dialects: ISO/IEC C++ 1998, ISO/IEC C++ 2003
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Java

Paradigm: Object-oriented, structured, imperative
Appeared in: 1995
Designed by: Sun Microsystems
Typing discipline: Static, strong, safe, nominative
Major implementations: Numerous
Influenced by: Objective-C, C++, Smalltalk, Eiffel,[1]
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This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers.
Please [improve the article] or discuss this issue on the talk page. This article has been tagged since December 2006.
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The Standard Template Library (STL) is a software library partially included in the C++ Standard Library. It provides containers, iterators, algorithms, and functors.
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Java

Paradigm: Object-oriented, structured, imperative
Appeared in: 1995
Designed by: Sun Microsystems
Typing discipline: Static, strong, safe, nominative
Major implementations: Numerous
Influenced by: Objective-C, C++, Smalltalk, Eiffel,[1]
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.NET Framework is a software component that can be added to or is included with Microsoft Windows operating system. It provides a large body of pre-coded solutions to common program requirements, and manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework. The .
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array is a data structure consisting of a group of elements that are accessed by indexing. In most programming languages each element has the same data type and the array occupies a contiguous area of storage. Most programming languages have a built-in array data type.
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In computer science, object composition (not to be confused with function composition) is a way and practice to combine simple objects or data types into more complex ones.
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In computer science, a tagged union, also called a variant, variant record, discriminated union, or disjoint union, is a data structure used to hold a value that could take on several different, but fixed types.
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reference is an object containing information which refers to data stored elsewhere, as opposed to containing the data itself. Accessing the value referred to by a reference is called dereferencing it.
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linked list is one of the fundamental data structures, and can be used to implement other data structures. It consists of a sequence of nodes, each containing arbitrary data fields and one or two references ("links") pointing to the next and/or previous nodes.
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Implementation is the realization of an application, or execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy.

In computer science, an implementation is a realization of a technical specification or algorithm as a program, software
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An interface defines the communication boundary between two entities, such as a piece of software, a hardware device, or a user. It generally refers to an abstraction that an entity provides of itself to the outside.
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In programming languages a data type defines a set of values and the allowable operations on those values[1]. For example, in the Java programming language, the "int" type represents the set of 32-bit integers ranging in value from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647, and
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This is a list of data structures. For a wider list of terms, see list of terms relating to algorithms and data structures.

Linear data structures


General type Specific types
List (or vector)
  • Array

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array is a data structure consisting of a group of elements that are accessed by indexing. In most programming languages each element has the same data type and the array occupies a contiguous area of storage. Most programming languages have a built-in array data type.
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