What is the data structure?

What is the data structure?

Data structure is the way a computer stores and organizes data. A data structure refers to a collection of data elements that have one or more specific relationships with each other. Often, carefully selected data structures can lead to higher operating or storage efficiency. Data structures are often related to efficient retrieval algorithms and indexing techniques.

There are many types of data structures. Generally speaking, data are simply classified according to their logical structure, including linear structures and non-linear structures.

Simply put, linear structure means that each node in the table has a linear relationship. If described from the language of data structure,

Linear structure:

1. Linear structure is a non-empty set.

2. The linear structure has one and only one start node and one terminal node.

3. All nodes in a linear structure have at most one direct predecessor node and one direct successor node.

Linear tables are typical linear structures, and stacks, queues, strings, etc. are all linear structures.

Nonlinear structure

Simply put, the nonlinear structure means that there are multiple correspondences between each node in the table. If described in the language of data structure, the nonlinear structure should include the following points:

1. The nonlinear structure is a non-empty set.

2. A node in a nonlinear structure may have multiple direct predecessor nodes and multiple direct successor nodes.

In practical applications, data structures such as arrays, generalized tables, tree structures, and graph structures are all nonlinear structures.

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