CMP4010 Computational Thinking: Introduction to Data Structures

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms relevant to data structures, computational thinking, and their operations as discussed in the lecture.

Data Structure

A logical organization of data that provides a way to store and manage data efficiently.

Array

A collection of the same type of data stored contiguously in memory, allowing access to elements at specific positions.

Stack

An ordered collection of items where new items are added and removed from the top; follows Last In First Out (LIFO) principle.

Queue

An ordered collection of items where items are added at the rear and removed from the front; follows First In First Out (FIFO) principle.

Linked List

A linear collection of data elements (nodes) where each node contains data and a pointer to the next node.

Tree

A hierarchical data structure that consists of nodes connected by edges, representing parent-child relationships.

Graph

A data structure that consists of a set of nodes and edges, representing relationships that are not hierarchical.

Heap

A tree-based data structure that satisfies the heap property; used in implementing priority queues.

Hash Table

A data structure that uses a hash function to map keys to values for efficient storage and retrieval.

Traversal

The operation of visiting and processing each data element in a data structure exactly once.

Searching

The operation of finding the location of a given data element (key) in a data structure.

Insertion

The operation of adding a new data element to a data structure.

Deletion

The operation of removing a data element from a data structure.

Sorting

The operation of arranging data elements in a specific order, either ascending or descending.

Merging

The operation of combining data elements from two or more data structures into one.

Data vs. Information

Data is raw, unorganized facts; information is processed, organized data that is meaningful.