CSC 301: Week 1 - Introduction to Data Structures

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the fundamental concepts, operations, memory allocation types, and abstract data types from Week 1 of CSC 301: Introduction to Data Structures.

Data

Raw facts, figures, symbols, or observations that have no specific meaning by themselves.

Information

Data that has been processed, organized, or interpreted to provide meaning and support decision-making.

Data Structure

A particular way of organizing and storing data in a computer so that it can be accessed, modified, and processed efficiently.

Linear Data Structure

A category of data structures where elements are organized in a sequential order, such as arrays, linked lists, stacks, and queues.

Non-linear Data Structure

A category of data structures where elements form hierarchical or network relationships rather than a sequence, such as trees and graphs.

Static Memory Allocation

A memory allocation approach where memory of a fixed size is allocated at compile time (or at program start), stored contiguously, and cannot grow dynamically.

Dynamic Memory Allocation

A memory allocation approach where memory is requested at runtime as needed (e.g., using malloc()) and can be released when no longer required (e.g., using free()).

Abstract Data Type (ADT)

A specification that defines a data type in terms of the values it can hold and the operations that can be performed on them, without specifying implementation details.

Array

A linear data structure that stores a collection of elements of the same data type in contiguous memory locations, allowing for constant-time access via unique indices.

Time Complexity

A measure of how the amount of computation required by an algorithm grows as the input size increases.

Space Complexity

A measure of how memory requirements grow as the input size increases.

Traversal

A common data structure operation that involves visiting elements systematically (e.g., displaying every student record).

Insertion

A common data structure operation that involves adding a new element to a collection.

Deletion

A common data structure operation that involves removing an element from a collection.

Searching

A common data structure operation that involves locating a particular element within a collection.

Sorting

A common data structure operation that involves arranging elements in a specified order.

Updating

A common data structure operation that involves modifying an existing element within a collection.

Accessing

A common data structure operation that involves retrieving an element (e.g., reading an array element at a specified index).

Merging

A common data structure operation that involves combining two collections into one.

Stack ADT Operations

Operations defined on a stack, specifically push(x) to add an element to the top, pop() to remove and return the top element, peek() to view the top element without removing it, and isEmpty() to check if empty.

Priority Queue ADT

An abstract data type supporting operations to insert elements and remove the highest or lowest priority element, typically implemented using a heap.

Dictionary / Map ADT

An abstract data type supporting operations to insert, search, and remove elements by key, typically implemented using a hash table or search tree.