1 Data Structures and Algorithms

Data Structures and
Algorithms
What is data?
 Data
 A collection of facts from which conclusion may be
drawn
 e.g. Data: Temperature 35°C; Conclusion: It is hot.
 Types of data
 Textual: For example, your name (Jose Rizal)
 Numeric: For example, your ID (XYZ-0001)
 Audio: For example, your voice
 Video: For example, your voice and picture
What is data structure?
 A particular way of storing and organizing data in
a computer so that it can be used efficiently and
effectively.
 Data structure is the logical or mathematical model

of a particular organization of data.
A group of data elements grouped together under

one name.
 For example, an array of integers
What is data structure?
Data Structures are containers that contain objects of data
types. There are several common data structures, and each
has its own behavior and applications.
Common data structures are: arrays of one or more

dimensions, stacks, linked lists (singly and doubly linked),
queues, trees (balanced, binary, and so on), graph and
hashing.
Types of data structures
Array
Linked List
Queue Stack
Tree
The Need for Data Structures
 Goal: to organize data
 Criteria: to facilitate efficient

 storage of data
 retrieval of data
 manipulation of data
 Design Issue:
 select and design appropriate data types
Data Structure Operations
 Traversing
 Accessing each data element exactly once so that certain
items in the data may be processed
 Searching
 Finding the location of the data element (key) in the
structure
 Insertion
 Adding a new data element to the structure
Data Structure Operations
 Deletion
 Removing a data element from the structure
 Sorting
 Arrange the data elements in a logical order
(ascending/descending)
Merging
 Combining data elements from two or more data
structures into one
What is algorithm?
 A finite set of instructions which accomplish a particular task
 A method or process to solve a problem
 Transforms input of a problem to output
Algorithm = Input + Process + Output
Algorithm development is an art – it needs practice, practice and only

practice!
What is a good algorithm?
 It must be correct
 It must be finite (in terms of time and size)
 It must terminate
 It must be unambiguous
 Which step is next?
 It must be space and time efficient
A program is an instance of an algorithm, written in

some specific programming language.
A simple algorithm
 Problem: Find maximum of a, b, c
 Algorithm
 Input = a, b, c
 Output = max
 Process
oLet max = a
o If b > max then
max = b
o If c > max then
max = c
o Display max
Order is very important!!!

Algorithm development: Basics
 Clearly identify:
 what output is required?
 what is the input?
 What steps are required to transform input into
output
o The most crucial bit
o Needs problem solving skills
o A problem can be solved in many different ways
o Which solution, amongst the different possible
solutions is optimal?
How to express an algorithm?
A sequence of steps to solve a problem
We need a way to express this sequence of steps
 Natural language (NL) is an obvious choice, but not a good choice.
Why?
o NLs are notoriously ambiguous (unclear)
 Programming Language (PL) is another choice, but again not a good

choice. Why?
o Algorithm should be PL independent
 We need some balance

o We need PL independence
o We need clarity
o Pseudo-code provides the right balance
What is Pseudo-code?
 Pseudo-code is a short hand way of describing a computer
program
 Rather than using the specific syntax of a computer

language, more general wording is used
 It is a mixture of NL and PL expressions, in a systematic

way
 Using pseudo-code, it is easier for a non-programmer to

understand the general workings of the program
Pseudo-code: General Guidelines
 Use PLs construct that are consistent with modern high
level languages, e.g. C++, Java, ...
 Use appropriate comments for clarity
Be simple and precise

Components of Pseudo-code
 Expressions
 Standard mathematical symbols are used
o Left arrow sign (←) as the assignment operator in assignment
statements (equivalent to the = operator in Java)
o Equal sign (=) as the equality relation in Boolean expressions
(equivalent to the "= =" relation in Java)
o For example
Sum ← 0
Sum ← Sum + 5
What is the final value of sum?

 Decision structures (if-then-else logic)
 if condition then true-actions [else false-actions]
 We use indentation to indicate what actions should be included in
the true-actions and false-actions
 For example
if marks > 50 then

print “Congratulation, you are passed!”
else
print “Sorry, you are failed!”
end if
What will be the output if marks are equal to 75?

 Loops (Repetition)
 Pre-condition loops
o While loops
• while condition do actions
• We use indentation to indicate what actions should be included in the loop
actions
• For example
while counter < 5 do
print “Hello World!”
counter ← counter + 1
end while
What will be the output if counter is initialized to 0, 7?

 Pre-condition loops
o For loops
• for variable-increment-definition do actions
• For example
for counter ← 0; counter < 5; counter ← counter + 2 do
end for
What will be the output?

 Post-condition loops
o Do loops
• do actions while condition
• For example
do
counter ← counter + 1
while counter < 5
What will be the output, if counter was initialized to 10?
The body of a post-condition loop must execute at

least once
 Method declarations
 Return_type method_name (parameter_list) method_body
 For example
integer sum ( integer num1, integer num2)
start
result ← num1 + num2
end
 Method calls
 object.method (args)
 For example
mycalculator.sum(num1, num2)
 Method returns
 return value
 For example
integer sum ( integer num1, integer num2)
start
result ← num1 + num2
return result
end
 Comments
 /* Multiple line comments go here. */
 // Single line comments go here
 Some people prefer braces {}, for comments
 Arrays
 A[i] represents the ith cell in the array A.
 The cells of an n-celled array A are indexed from A[0] to
A[n − 1] (consistent with Java).

1 Data Structures and Algorithms

Uploaded by

1 Data Structures and Algorithms

Uploaded by

Data Structures and

 Data structure is the logical or mathematical model

A group of data elements grouped together under

Common data structures are: arrays of one or more

 Goal: to organize data

 Criteria: to facilitate efficient

Algorithm = Input + Process + Output

Algorithm development is an art – it needs practice, practice and only

A program is an instance of an algorithm, written in

Order is very important!!!

 Programming Language (PL) is another choice, but again not a good

 We need some balance

 Rather than using the specific syntax of a computer

 It is a mixture of NL and PL expressions, in a systematic

 Using pseudo-code, it is easier for a non-programmer to

 Use appropriate comments for clarity

Be simple and precise

What is the final value of sum?

if marks > 50 then

What will be the output if marks are equal to 75?

What will be the output if counter is initialized to 0, 7?

What will be the output?

What will be the output, if counter was initialized to 10?

The body of a post-condition loop must execute at

You might also like