Data Structure Interview Questions

1. What is a Data Structure?

Answer: A data structure is a way of organizing and storing data so

that it can be accessed and modified efficiently. Examples include
arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, and graphs.

2. What are the different types of data structures?

Answer: Data structures are generally classified into:

• Linear Data Structures: Arrays, Linked Lists, Stacks, Queues

• Non-linear Data Structures: Trees, Graphs, Heaps, Hash
Tables

3. What is an Array?

Answer: An array is a collection of elements stored in contiguous

memory locations, all of which are of the same data type.

4. What is a Linked List?

Answer: A linked list is a linear data structure where each element

(node) contains a value and a pointer/reference to the next node.

5. What is the difference between an Array and a Linked List?

Answer:

• Array: Fixed size, stored in contiguous memory, random

access.
• Linked List: Dynamic size, non-contiguous memory,
sequential access.
6. What is a Stack?

Answer: A stack is a linear data structure that follows the Last In

First Out (LIFO) principle. Elements are added and removed from
the same end, called the top.

7. What are the applications of Stack?

Answer: Stacks are used in:

• Function call management (call stack)

• Undo mechanisms in editors
• Expression evaluation and syntax parsing

8. What is a Queue?

Answer: A queue is a linear data structure that follows the First In

First Out (FIFO) principle. Elements are added at the rear and
removed from the front.

9. What are the types of Queues?

Answer: Types of queues include:

• Simple Queue
• Circular Queue
• Priority Queue
• Deque (Double-ended Queue)

10. What is a Tree?

Answer: A tree is a non-linear data structure consisting of nodes,

where each node has a value and children nodes. The topmost
node is called the root.

11. What is a Binary Tree?

Answer: A binary tree is a tree data structure where each node has
at most two children, referred to as the left child and the right child.

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12. What is a Binary Search Tree (BST)?

Answer: A BST is a binary tree where the left subtree contains

nodes with values less than the root, and the right subtree contains
nodes with values greater than the root.

13. What is the difference between a Binary Tree and a Binary

Search Tree?

Answer:

• Binary Tree: No specific order.

• Binary Search Tree: Nodes follow the order where left < root
< right.

14. What is a Graph?

Answer: A graph is a non-linear data structure consisting of nodes

(vertices) connected by edges. It can be directed or undirected.

15. Explain the concept of Hashing.

Answer: Hashing is a technique to convert a large amount of data

into a smaller fixed-size value (hash code) for quick lookups.

16. What is a Hash Table?

Answer: A hash table is a data structure that stores data in key-

value pairs, using a hash function to compute the index into an
array of slots.

17. What is the difference between Stack and Queue?

Answer:

• Stack: Follows LIFO (Last In First Out).

• Queue: Follows FIFO (First In First Out).

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18. Explain the concept of Recursion.

Answer: Recursion is a technique where a function calls itself to

solve a smaller version of the problem until it reaches a base case.

19. What is a Doubly Linked List?

Answer: A doubly linked list is a linked list where each node has
two pointers: one to the next node and one to the previous node.

20. What is the difference between a Singly and Doubly Linked

List?

Answer:

• Singly Linked List: Each node points to the next node.

• Doubly Linked List: Each node points to both the next and
previous nodes.

21. What is a Circular Linked List?

Answer: A circular linked list is a linked list where the last node
points to the first node, forming a circle.

22. What is a Heap?

Answer: A heap is a special tree-based data structure that satisfies

the heap property:

• Max-Heap: Parent nodes are always greater than or equal to

child nodes.
• Min-Heap: Parent nodes are always less than or equal to
child nodes.

23. What are the types of Graphs?

Answer: Types of graphs include:

• Directed and Undirected Graphs

• Weighted and Unweighted Graphs
• Connected and Disconnected Graphs

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24. Explain Breadth-First Search (BFS) and Depth-First Search
(DFS).

Answer:

• BFS: Explores the graph level by level, using a queue.

• DFS: Explores as deep as possible along each branch, using
a stack or recursion.

25. What is the Time Complexity of Insertion Sort?

Answer: The time complexity of Insertion Sort is O(n2)O(n^2)O(n2)

in the worst case and O(n)O(n)O(n) in the best case.

26. What is the difference between BFS and DFS?

Answer:

• BFS: Uses a queue, good for shortest path.

• DFS: Uses a stack, good for deep exploration.

27. What is a Trie?

Answer: A trie is a tree-like data structure used for efficient retrieval

of strings, often used in auto-complete and spell-checking
applications.

28. What is an AVL Tree?

Answer: An AVL tree is a self-balancing binary search tree where

the difference in heights of left and right subtrees cannot be more
than one.

29. What is Tree Traversal?

Answer: Tree traversal is the process of visiting each node in a

tree in a specific order. Types include:

• In-order (Left, Root, Right)

• Pre-order (Root, Left, Right)

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 • Post-order (Left, Right, Root)

30. What is a Red-Black Tree?

Answer: A red-black tree is a self-balancing binary search tree

where each node is colored red or black, ensuring that the tree
remains balanced during insertions and deletions.

31. What is the difference between an AVL Tree and a Red-Black

Tree?

Answer:

• AVL Tree: Stricter balancing, slower insertions/deletions.

• Red-Black Tree: Looser balancing, faster insertions/deletions.

32. What is Hash Collision?

Answer: A hash collision occurs when two different keys produce

the same hash code. Collision handling techniques include chaining
and open addressing.

33. Explain the concept of Dynamic Programming.

Answer: Dynamic programming is a method for solving problems

by breaking them down into overlapping subproblems, storing the
solutions to subproblems to avoid redundant calculations.

34. What is a Priority Queue?

Answer: A priority queue is a data structure where each element

has a priority. Elements with higher priority are dequeued before
elements with lower priority.

35. Explain the difference between Stack Overflow and Stack

Underflow.

Answer:

• Stack Overflow: Occurs when trying to push an element onto

a full stack.

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 • Stack Underflow: Occurs when trying to pop an element from
an empty stack.

36. What is the time complexity of searching in a Binary Search

Tree?

Answer: The time complexity of searching in a BST is

O(h)O(h)O(h), where hhh is the height of the tree. In the best case
(balanced tree), it’s O(log⁡n)O(\log n)O(logn).

37. What is a Segment Tree?

Answer: A segment tree is a data structure used for storing

intervals or segments. It allows for efficient querying of the sum,
minimum, maximum, or other aggregate functions over segments.

38. What is a B-Tree?

Answer: A B-Tree is a self-balancing search tree in which nodes

can have multiple children. It is commonly used in databases and
file systems.

39. Explain the concept of Circular Queue.

Answer: A circular queue is a linear data structure where the last

position is connected back to the first position, forming a circle. It
helps in overcoming the limitations of a simple queue.

40. What is a Sparse Matrix?

Answer: A sparse matrix is a matrix with a majority of its elements

as zero. It is efficient to store only non-zero elements to save
space.

41. Explain Backtracking.

Answer: Backtracking is an algorithmic technique for solving

problems by building a solution incrementally and abandoning
solutions that fail to meet the requirements.

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42. What is the difference between a Stack and a Heap?

Answer:

• Stack: Memory used for static allocation and function calls.

• Heap: Memory used for dynamic allocation.

43. What is the Time Complexity of Quick Sort?

Answer: The time complexity of Quick Sort is O(nlog⁡n)O(n \log

n)O(nlogn) on average and O(n2)O(n^2)O(n2) in the worst case.
44. What is a Graph Cycle?

Answer: A cycle in a graph is a path of edges and vertices wherein

a vertex is reachable from itself.

45. What is the advantage of using Hash Tables?

Answer: Hash tables offer average-case O(1)O(1)O(1) time

complexity for search, insertion, and deletion operations.

46. What is a Disjoint Set Union (DSU)?

Answer: DSU, also known as Union-Find, is a data structure that

keeps track of a set of elements partitioned into disjoint (non-
overlapping) subsets.

47. Explain the concept of Greedy Algorithm.

Answer: A greedy algorithm makes a series of choices that seem

the best at the moment, aiming for a local optimum to find a global
optimum solution.

48. What is a Topological Sort?

Answer: Topological sorting is a linear ordering of vertices in a

directed acyclic graph (DAG) where for every directed edge u→vu
\rightarrow vu→v, vertex uuu appears before vvv.

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49. What is the purpose of Depth-Limited Search (DLS)?

Answer: DLS is a variation of depth-first search with a depth limit to

prevent exploring too deep and is useful in scenarios like iterative
deepening.

50. Explain the concept of Amortized Analysis.

Answer: Amortized analysis averages the cost of operations over a

sequence of operations, giving the average time per operation even
if a single operation might be costly.

These questions are designed to test understanding of core

concepts and are often used in technical interviews for software
engineering roles.