Introduction to Data Structure

Introduction to Data Structure and Analysis of Algorithm (DSA) Using "C"

Objectives

Ø To understand how various data structures can be classified into various ways. Ø To understand the most commonly used and basic data types and user defined data types. Ø To understand the characteristics, functionality and methodology of problem-oriented data structures used to solve specific problems as well as how to use a data structure for program implementation.

Why use this Data Structure OR Need of Data Structure

Ø It gives different level of organization data model. Ø It tells how data can be stored and accessed in its basic level. Ø Provide operation of data and data item such as adding an item, deleting an item, getting up highest priority item. Ø Provide fast searching and sorting, accessing of data in data list. Ø Provide a means to manage and analysis of huge amount of data efficiently. Ø It enables attribute values to be retrieved quickly-assertions are indexed by the entities. Ø Properties and attributes of relations are easy to describe. Ø  It allows simple and powerful of consideration as it embraces aspects of problem oriented with object oriented programming.

What is Data

Data: - Data is raw material of fact and figure of unorganized way that need to be processed. Data can be something simple, unordered and useless until it is organized.

What is Information

Information: - When data is processed, organized, structured or presented in a given context so as to make it useful for decision making, it is called information.

Data & Information

Data are the raw materials of facts and figure or details from which information is derived. Single pieces of data are rarely useful alone. When data to become information then data needs to be put into context.

Relation between Data and Information:-

                                 Information = Instruction + Data

Difference Between Data and Information:-  

Data	Information
Data is a single unit	Information is a collection of meaningful data.
Data doesn’t carry a meaning	Information must carry a logical meaning.
Data is the raw material	Information is the product.
Data is used as input for the machine	Information is the output of data in machine.
Data doesn’t depend on Information	Information totally depends on data because we can’t make any information without data.
Data is not special	Information is special and important.

 

BASIC TERMINOLOGY (In Term of Data structure)-ELEMENTARY DATA ORGANIZATION

Data and Data Item

Data are simply group or collection of facts and figures. Data are values or group of values. A data item or value refers to a single unit of items or values. Data items that are divided into sub items are group items; those that are not are called elementary items. Example-A student’s name may be divided into three part- sub items – first name, middle name and last name , address has three parts –Street, Area and State but the ID No. of a student would normally be act as a single item. In the above example (ID No, Age, Gender, First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Street, Area, State) are elementary data values or data items, whereas (Name, Address ) are group data values or items.

Data Type

Data type is a tells about the data means which type of data store in particular variable and identifying one of different types of data such as integer, floating character and Boolean values that determines the possible values for that type; and the operations that can be done on values of that type.   It is the two types of Data Types:- 1.     Basic or Primitive Data Type and 2.     User defined or Non-Primitive Data Type 1. Primitive data type is the basic data type that is provided by the programming language with built-in support i.e. int, char float etc. This data type is directly use by machine to the programming language and is supported by machine directly while non-primitive data type is derived from primitive data type. Example- Array, Structure and Union etc.

Variable

Variable is an identifier which hold the data value. It is a symbolic constant name given to some known data value for the purpose of allowing the name to be used independently of the data it hold. A variable name in program is usually reference with a data storage location and also its contents and these may change during the program execution.

Record

A set or group of related data value or data items is known as record. The elements of records are usually called fields or members. Records are distinguished from arrays list or column by the fact that their number of fields is typically fixed and each field has a unique name and that each field may have a different data value.

Entity

An entity is something about data that has certain attributes which may be assigned some data items or values. The data values or items themselves may be either numeric or non-numeric. Example: Attributes-> Name Age Gender Values-> Ajay 32 M   Vijay 25 M   Aliza 22 F

Entity Set

An entity set is a group or collection of similar entities. Example- Employees of an organization, students of a class and sports team etc. Each attribute or properties of an entity set has a range of values and the set of all possible data values or items that could be assigned to the particular attributes. The term “information” is sometimes used for data with given specified attributes where meaningful or processed data.    Field A field is a single unit of data or information identifying an attribute of an entity a record is the collection of field items or values of a given entity and a file is the group of records of the entities in a given entity set. File File is a group of records of the entities in a given entity set. Example -File containing records of students of a particular class. Key A key means search value is one or more field(s) in a record that take(s) unique values and can be used to one record from the others records.

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