Data Structure Q&A
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- What is a data structure?
A way to organize and store data for efficient access and modification. - What are algorithms?
Step-by-step procedures for solving problems or performing tasks. - What is the importance of data structures?
They optimize data storage, retrieval, and manipulation, leading to efficient programs. - What is time complexity?
A measure of the time an algorithm takes to complete based on the input size. - What is space complexity?
A measure of the memory an algorithm uses based on the input size. - What is Big O notation?
A mathematical representation of the upper bound of an algorithm’s time complexity. - What is the difference between best, average, and worst case?
Best case is the minimum time required; average case is expected time; worst case is the maximum time. - What is a constant time complexity?
O(1), meaning the algorithm’s runtime does not change with input size. - What is linear time complexity?
O(n), meaning the runtime increases linearly with input size. - What is logarithmic time complexity?
O(log n), meaning the runtime increases logarithmically with input size. - What is an array?
A collection of elements identified by index or key. - What is a linked list?
A data structure consisting of nodes, where each node contains data and a reference to the next node. - What is a stack?
A last-in, first-out (LIFO) data structure where the last element added is the first to be removed. - What is a queue?
A first-in, first-out (FIFO) data structure where the first element added is the first to be removed. - What is a hash table?
A data structure that stores key-value pairs for fast data retrieval. - What is a binary tree?
A tree data structure where each node has at most two children. - What is a binary search tree (BST)?
A binary tree where the left child has a lesser value and the right child has a greater value than the parent node. - What is tree traversal?
The process of visiting all nodes in a tree (e.g., inorder, preorder, postorder). - What is a balanced tree?
A tree where the height difference between left and right subtrees is minimal. - What is a graph?
A collection of nodes (vertices) connected by edges. - What is linear search?
A simple search algorithm that checks each element sequentially until the target is found. - What is binary search?
A search algorithm that divides a sorted array in half to find a target value efficiently. - What is bubble sort?
A simple sorting algorithm that repeatedly swaps adjacent elements if they are in the wrong order. - What is selection sort?
A sorting algorithm that repeatedly selects the minimum element from the unsorted portion and moves it to the sorted portion. - What is insertion sort?
A sorting algorithm that builds a sorted array by repeatedly inserting the next element into the correct position. - What is merge sort?
A divide-and-conquer sorting algorithm that divides the array into halves, sorts them, and merges them. - What is quicksort?
A sorting algorithm that selects a pivot and partitions the array into elements less than and greater than the pivot. - What is Dijkstra’s algorithm?
An algorithm for finding the shortest path between nodes in a graph. - What is the Floyd-Warshall algorithm?
An algorithm for finding shortest paths in a weighted graph with positive or negative edge weights. - What is a depth-first search (DFS)?
A traversal algorithm that explores as far down a branch as possible before backtracking. - What is a heap?
A specialized tree-based data structure that satisfies the heap property (max-heap or min-heap). - What is a priority queue?
An abstract data type similar to a queue, where each element has a priority and elements with higher priority are dequeued first. - What is recursion?
A programming technique where a function calls itself to solve a problem. - What are the advantages of recursion?
Simplifies code for problems that can be broken down into smaller subproblems. - What are the disadvantages of recursion?
Can lead to high memory usage and stack overflow for deep recursions. - What is a base case?
The condition under which a recursive function stops calling itself. - What is the difference between tail recursion and non-tail recursion?
In tail recursion, the recursive call is the last operation, allowing optimization by the compiler. - What is a dynamic array?
An array that can resize itself when elements are added or removed. - What is a circular queue?
A queue where the last position is connected to the first position, forming a circle. - What is a graph traversal?
The process of visiting all nodes in a graph, commonly using DFS or BFS. - What is greedy algorithm?
An algorithm that makes the locally optimal choice at each step with the hope of finding a global optimum. - What is a hash function?
A function that converts input data into a fixed-size value (hash code). - What is a collision in hashing?
Occurs when two different inputs produce the same hash value. - What is open addressing in hashing?
A collision resolution technique where a new slot is found within the hash table. - What is chaining in hashing?
A collision resolution method that uses linked lists to store multiple values at the same hash index. - What are hash tables used for?
Efficient data retrieval, implementing associative arrays, and caches. - What is a leaf node?
A node that does not have any children. - What is a full binary tree?
A binary tree where every node has either 0 or 2 children. - What is a complete binary tree?
A binary tree where all levels are fully filled except possibly the last level. - What is a binary search tree (BST)?
A binary tree where the left subtree has nodes with lesser values, and the right subtree has nodes with greater values. - What is height of a tree?
The length of the longest path from the root to a leaf node. - What is an undirected graph?
A graph where edges have no direction; the connection is bidirectional. - What is a directed graph?
A graph where edges have a direction, indicating a one-way relationship. - What is a weighted graph?
A graph where edges have associated weights or costs. - What is a bipartite graph?
A graph whose nodes can be divided into two disjoint sets, with edges only between nodes of different sets. - What is a cycle in a graph?
A path that starts and ends at the same vertex without retracing edges. - What is divide and conquer?
A problem-solving strategy that divides a problem into smaller subproblems, solves them independently, and combines their results. - What is dynamic programming?
A method for solving complex problems by breaking them down into simpler subproblems and storing their solutions. - What is the difference between dynamic programming and recursion?
Dynamic programming stores results of subproblems to avoid redundant computations, while recursion may recompute results. - What is a brute force algorithm?
A straightforward approach that checks all possible solutions until the correct one is found. - What is radix sort?
A non-comparative integer sorting algorithm that sorts numbers digit by digit. - What is counting sort?
A non-comparative sorting algorithm that counts the occurrences of each distinct element. - What is bucket sort?
A sorting algorithm that distributes elements into several “buckets,” sorts them individually, and then concatenates the buckets. - What is interpolation search?
An improved variant of binary search that works on uniformly distributed data. - What is exponential search?
A search algorithm that finds the range of a potential element and then uses binary search within that range. - What is the difference between an algorithm and a program?
An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure; a program is the implementation of an algorithm in a programming language. - What are the advantages of linked lists over arrays?
Dynamic size, ease of insertion/deletion, and no need for contiguous memory. - What are the disadvantages of linked lists?
Extra memory for pointers, no random access, and traversal time. - What is a sparse array?
An array in which most of its elements are zero or have no value. - What is a circular linked list?
A linked list where the last node points back to the first node.
