Topic 10 CS Data Types and Structures

Data type

a classification attributed to an item of data, which determines the types of value it can take and how it can be used.

Identifier

a unique name applied to an item of data.

Record (data type)

a composite data type comprising several related items that may be of different data types.

Composite data type

a data type constructed using several of the basic data types available in a particular programming language.

Array

a data structure containing several elements of the same data type.

Index (array)

a numerical indicator of an item of data’s position in an array.

Lower bound

the index of the first element in an array, usually 0 or 1.

Upper bound

the index of the last element in an array.

Linear search

a method of searching in which each element of an array is checked in order.

Bubble sort

a method of sorting data in an array into alphabetical or numerical order by comparing adjacent items and swapping them if they are in the wrong order.

File

a collection of data stored by a computer program to be used again.

Abstract data type (ADT)

a collection of data and a set of operations on that data.

Stack

a list containing several items operating on the last in, first out (LIFO) principle.

Queue

a list containing several items operating on the first in, first out (FIFO) principle.

Linked list

a list containing several items in which each item in the list points to the next item in the list.