What is a data structure and what kind of structure is a data structure?

A data structure is the way a computer stores and organizes data. A data structure is a collection of data elements that have one or more specific relationships with each other. Often, a well-chosen data structure can lead to higher operational or storage efficiency.

Data structures are often associated with efficient retrieval algorithms and indexing techniques.

Noun definitions. A data structure refers to a collection of data elements that have one or more relationships with each other and the relationships between the data elements in the set. Written as:

data_structure=(d,r)

where d is the set of data elements and r is a finite set of relationships between all the elements in that set.

Other Definitions. In his book Data Structures, Algorithms, and Applications, Sartaj Sahni says, "Data structures are data objects and the connections that exist between instances of that object and the data elements that make up the instances.

These connections can be given by defining related functions. He defines a data object as "a collection of instances or values that a data object is."

Clifford's definition in Data Structures and Algorithmic Analysis is: "A data structure is a physical implementation of an ADT (Abstract Data Type). ”

In his book Data Structures and Programming, Robert divides the design process of a data structure into an abstraction layer, a data structure layer, and an implementation layer. Among them, the abstraction layer refers to the abstract data type layer, which discusses the logical structure of data and its operation, and the data structure layer and the implementation layer discuss the representation of a data structure and the details of its storage in the computer and the implementation of the operation.

Data structure refers to the relationship between the elements of the same type of data element, including three components, the logical structure of data, the storage structure of data and the data operation structure.

Subjects of the study. 1. The logical structure of data: refers to the data structure that reflects the logical relationship between data elements, where the logical relationship refers to the antecedent relationship between data elements, and has nothing to do with their storage location in the computer. The logical structure includes:

1.Gather. 2.Linear structure.

3.Tree structure.

4.Graphical structure.

2. Physical structure of data: refers to the form in which the logical structure of data is stored in the storage space of the computer.

3. Calculation of data structures.

A data structure is the way a computer stores and organizes data.

For a computer storage of a thing, for example, a tree can be stored in a set, a binary tree can be stored in an array, and a graph can be stored in an array.

Data Structures is a comprehensive professional foundation course in computer science. The study of data structure not only involves the research scope of computer hardware (especially coding theory, storage devices and access methods), but also has a closer relationship with the study of computer software, whether it is a compiler or an operating system, it involves the distribution of data elements in memory. When researching information retrieval, it is also important to consider how to organize the data so that it is easier to find and access the data elements.

Data structures are a core course that sits between mathematics, computer hardware, and computer software. In computer science, data structures are not only the basis for general programming (especially for non-numerical computing), but also an important foundation for the design and implementation of compilers, operating systems, database systems, and other system programs and large-scale applications.

The purpose and task of this course is to enable students to correctly analyze the characteristics of data objects, have the ability to select appropriate data structures and corresponding algorithms, and master the skills of temporal and spatial complexity analysis of algorithms. Through the study of this course, students can develop a good programming style and be able to independently design and implement some complex algorithms.

The main content of the data structure is to introduce the optimization of commonly used methods and algorithms in programming, so as to make the operation of the program more efficient.

A data structure is a collection of data elements with structural characteristics, which studies the logical structure of the data, the physical structure of the data and the interrelationship between them, defines the corresponding operations for this structure, designs the corresponding algorithms, and ensures that the new structures obtained after these operations still maintain the original structure type. In a nutshell, a data structure is a collection of data elements that have one or more specific relationships with each other, that is, a collection of data elements with a "structure".

"Structure" refers to the relationship between data elements, which is divided into logical structure and storage structure. The logical structure and physical structure of data are two closely related aspects of data structure, and the same logical structure can correspond to different storage structures. The design of the algorithm depends on the logical structure of the data, while the implementation of the algorithm depends on the specified storage structure.

Storage Data Structure:

The study of data structure is the basis for constructing complex software systems, and its core technology is decomposition and abstraction. The logical structure of data is stored in the storage space of a computer in the form in which it is stored, which is called the physical structure of data. Generally speaking, the logical structure of a data structure can be represented into multiple storage structures as needed, such as sequential storage, chain storage, index storage, and hash storage.

The characteristics of the sequential storage structure of data are: the logical relationship between data elements is represented by the relative position of the elements in the memory; Non-sequential storage is characterized by the logical relationship between data elements represented by a pointer indicating the storage address of the element.

1. Set structure: The data elements in the structure have no other relationship with each other except that they belong to the same type.

2. Linear structure: There is a one-to-one relationship between the data elements in the structure.

3. Tree structure: There is a one-to-many relationship between the data elements in the structure.

4. Graphical structure or network structure: There is a many-to-many relationship between the data elements in the structure.