Data
Data is a collection of numbers, alphabets, and symbols combined to represent information. A computer accepts the raw data as input and produces improved data as output after processing it.
- Atomic data:
Atomic data are the non-decomposable entity. For example, an integer value 111 or a character value “J” cannot be further divided.
- Composite data:
It is a composition of several atomic data and it can be further divided into atomic data. For example, the Date of birth (05/07/1995) can be separated into three atomic values. The first one gives the day of the month, the second one gives the month and the last is the year.
Data Types
A data type is a set of values and a set of operations defined on those values.
Example: int age; [age can hold, integer type of data]
Every programming language has a method for declaring a set of variables of a particular type.
Abstract Data Types (ADT)
ADT in programming language means a user-defined extension to the native data types available in the programming language.
It consists of:
- A set of values
- A set of operations
In ADT, the implementation details remain hidden from the user. ADT is widely referred to as object-based programming.
Data Structure
The data structure indicates the following things:
- Organization of data
- Associativity among data elements
- Accessing methods
- Operations on data
- Processing alternatives for data
The data structure deals with the representation of data considering not only the elements stored but also their relationship with each other.
A well-suited data structure must be chosen so that the relationship between data elements can be expressed. A data structure is an instance of an ADT.
Types of Data Structures
- Primitive data structures:
The primitive data structures are primitive data types. The int, char, float, double, and pointer are the primitive data structures that can hold a single value.
- Non-primitive data structures:
The non-primitive data structure is divided into two types:
- Linear:
Elements are arranged sequentially is known as Linear data structure. A one-to-one relationship can be handled by the linear data structure. Arrays, Linked lists, Stacks, and Queues are examples of Linear data structures.
- Non-linear:
All one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many relationships are handled by Non-linear data structures. Trees, graphs, and tables are examples of Non-linear data structures.
- Linear:
Operations on Data Structures
The common operations performed on data structures are:
- Traversing:
A data structure is accessing each element and accessing only once.
- Searching:
Finding the location of elements within the given data structure.
- Insertion:
Adding the new element in a data structure.
- Update:
Update the element, i.e. replace the element with another element.
- Deletion:
Removing the element from the data structure.
- Sorting:
Arranging the elements of a data structure either in an ascending or descending order.