Fundamentals of Data Structures- Definitions

Question 1

Data Structures

Answer 1

A format used to store, organise and manage data in a way that allows efficient access and modification for the needs of the program

Question 2

Arrays

Answer 2

A data strucuture for storing a finite, ordered set of data of the same data type within a single identifier.

Question 3

Multi-Dimensional Array

Answer 3

An array where each data item is located using multiple indices

Question 4

Single-Dimensional Array

Answer 4

An array where each data item can be located using a single index

Question 5

Binary file

Answer 5

An organised collection of records where data is stored in binary

Question 6

Fields

Answer 6

A single item of data

Question 7

Records

Answer 7

A data structure that stores multiple fields, organised based on attributes, within a single line of a file

Question 8

Text file

Answer 8

An organised collection of records where data is stored in human readable characters

Question 9

Dictionaries

Answer 9

A data structure consisting of set of keys that mapped to their corresponding values

Question 10

Dynamic Structures

Answer 10

A data structure whose memory allocation size canchange throughout the executuion of the program

Question 11

Graphs

Answer 11

A data strucuture consisting of a set of vertices/modes by a set of edges/arcs

Question 12

Hash Table

Answer 12

A data structure where a hashing algorithm creates a mapping between keys and values. The data item can then be directly accessed by recalculation, without any search.

Question 13

Queues

Answer 13

A FIFO data structure. The first item added pushed on to the queue is the first to be removed/ popped off

Question 14

Stacks

Answer 14

A LIFO data structure. The last item added is the first to be removed.

Question 15

Static structures

Answer 15

A data structure that is aloocated a fixed amount of memory space

Question 16

Trees

Answer 16

A data structure that usese a set of linked nodes to form a hierarchical structure starting at a root node. Each node is a sub node/ child of the parent node

Question 17

Vectors

Answer 17

A data strucuter representing a quantity with both magnitude and direction. It can be represented as a list, function or geometric point.

Question 18

Peek/Top

Answer 18

An operation that allows the user to view the top element of the stack without modifying it

Question 19

Pop

Answer 19

An operation that removed the most recently added element that was not yet removed from the stack

Question 20

Push

Answer 20

An operation that adds an element to the top of the stack

Question 21

Adjacency Matrix

Answer 21

A matrix representation of a graph that stores the edges connecting all possible nodes

Question 22

Adjancency List

Answer 22

A representation of a graph by storing a list of connected nodes to each node

Question 23

Directed graphs

Answer 23

A graph where the order of the vertices paired in an edge matter. The edges are one way

Question 24

Edge/Arc

Answer 24

A connection that represents a relationship between two nodes

Question 25

Undirected graph

Answer 25

A graph where the order of the vertices paires in an edge does not matter. The edges and bidirectional

Question 26

Vertex/ Node

Answer 26

The representation of an object on a graph that is capable of being related to other such objects

Question 27

Weighted graphs

Answer 27

Where each edge/arc has an associated value (known as its weight)

Question 28

Binary Trees

Answer 28

A rooted tree in which each node has, at most, 2 children

Question 29

Rooted Trees

Answer 29

A tree in which one node has been designated as the root

Question 30

Root Node

Answer 30

The only node in a rooted tree withot a parent

Question 31

Trees

Answer 31

A connected, undirected graph with no cycles

Question 32

Collisions

Answer 32

The phenomenon when two key values compute to the same hash

Question 33

Hashing Algorithm

Answer 33

An algorithm that calculates a value to determine the unique index where a data item is to be stored in a hash table

Question 34

Rehashing

Answer 34

The process of rerunning the hashibg algorithm in the event of a collision