Why Data Structures and Algorithms? (day-1) Subscribe

5 min readAug 3, 2024

What data structures and algorithms are??, Why they are useful??, and how you can use them effectively??(day-1) Subscribe

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Playlist — Data Structure and Algorithms in Python:

What even are data structures and algorithms?

At the backbone of every program or piece of software are two entities: data and algorithms. Algorithms transform data into something a program can effectively use. Therefore, it is important to understand how to structure data so algorithms can maintain, utilize, and iterate through data quickly.

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Data Structures

Data structures are the way we are able to store and retrieve data. You’re already familiar with Python lists and dictionaries, so you know that lists and arrays are sequential with data accessed by index while dictionaries and objects use a named key to store and retrieve information.

The data structures that exist in programming languages are pretty similar to real-world systems that we use outside of the digital sphere. Imagine that you go to the grocery store. At this particular grocery store, the frozen pizza is stored next to the bell peppers and the toothbrushes are next to the milk. The store does not have signs that indicate where different items are located. In this disorganized grocery store, you would have a pretty difficult time trying to find what you were looking for!

Fortunately, most grocery stores have a clear order to the way the store is stocked and laid out. Similarly, data structures provide us with a way to organize information (including other data structures!) in a digital space.

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How are data structures used?

Data structures handle four main functions for us:

Inputting information
Processing information
Maintaining information
Retrieving information

Inputting is largely concerned with how the data is received. What kind of information can be included? Will the new data be added to the beginning, end, or somewhere in the middle of the existing data? Does an existing point of data need to be updated or destroyed?

Processing is about how data is manipulated in the data structure. This can occur concurrently or as a result of other processes that data structures handle. How does existing data that has been stored need to change to accommodate new, updated, or removed data?

Maintaining is focused on how the data is organized within the structure. Which relationships need to be maintained between pieces of data? How much memory must the system reserve (allocate) to accommodate the data?

Retrieving is devoted to finding and returning the data that is stored in the structure. How can we access that information again? What steps does the data structure need to take to get the information back to us?

Different types and use cases for data will be better suited to different manners of inputting, processing, storing, and retrieving. This is why we have several data structures to choose from… and the ability to create our own!

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Which data structure should I choose?

Your plumber probably would not be the best professional to diagnose an illness and your doctor probably wouldn’t be the best person to do your taxes — they are each better suited for other tasks! Similarly, different data structures are better suited for different tasks. Choosing the wrong data structure can result in slow or unresponsive code (and mess up your program!), so it’s important to consider a few factors as you make your decision:

What is the intended purpose for the data? Do any data structures have built-in functionality that is ideally suited for this purpose? Do you want to search, sort, or iterate data in a way in which certain data structures would be better suited than others?
Do you want or need control over how memory is set aside to store your data? Data structures that use static memory allocation (e.g., stacks or arrays) will manage memory for you and assume a fixed amount of memory upon instantiation with a cap on how much data may be added. Data structures that utilize dynamic memory allocation (e.g., heaps or linked lists) allow you to allocate and reallocate memory within the life of the program. While memory allocation is not something that you’ll need to consider in languages like Python or Javascript (these languages will manage memory for you, regardless of which data structure you use), it is something to bear in mind when working in other languages like C.
How long will it take different data structures to accomplish various tasks relative to other data structures? Technically, two data structures may both be able to accomplish the same task for you, but one may be quite a bit faster. This consideration, known as runtime will be covered further in-depth when you explore all the nifty tricks of asymptotic notation.

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Algorithms

Simply put, algorithms are instructions that the computer follows to carry out tasks. There are many, many types of algorithms, but some common ones that you will encounter in this course (and likely the world!) are:

Sorting algorithms
Search algorithms
Divide and conquer algorithms
Greedy algorithms
Brute force algorithms

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How are algorithms used?

Algorithms are used to manipulate and process data. Data structures are useful in maintaining and storing data, but algorithms are what actually utilize that data.

Let’s say we have a list of numbers- that List is the data structure that stores the numbers, but that’s all it does. If we want to do something with those numbers, we need an algorithm! We could sort them using a sorting algorithm, or we could do something much simpler, like create a new list that contains the original list’s elements multiplied by two.

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Next steps

Now that you have a (very) broad overview of what data structures and algorithms are, we will dive into the specifics!

UpNext, you are going to create your data structures from scratch and then write algorithms that will utilize them. Our first data structure will be nodes, which are the foundation for many of the data structures.

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