The world of computation and programming can never be complete without data; without data, there will be nothing to compute. Data structures play an important role in how data is processed, stored and displayed.

So, what are Data Structures?

Data structures are containers for the storage of data in a particular, uniform and unique organization or pattern of arrangement. Data structures in a layman's understanding are boxes used to pack data in a particular arrangement. Using a real-life example, your plate stack in your kitchen is a data structure used to store and arrange plates in a particular manner😁

Having a very understanding of data structures would give you an edge and it will help you ace your technical interviews in most companies.

Types Of Data Structures

There are two major types of data structures they are Linear and Non-linear data structures

Linear Data Structures

These are data structures in that each node in the structure is arranged next to each other in a straight line pattern. Linear data structures are quite popular and with basic knowledge of programming, you might have encountered either one or two of their kind. Examples of Linear Data Structures are:

• Arrays

• Lists

• Sets

• Linked Lists

• Stacks

• Heaps

• Queues

  Most Linear Data Structures are made primitive data structures in different programming languages, e.g Arrays are primitive data structures in both JavaScript and Python.

Non-Linear Data Structures

These are data structures whose nodes are not arranged sequentially. Non-linear data structures are known for their complex implementations and due to that most non-linear data structures aren't made primitive. Examples of non-linear data structures are:

• Trees

• Graphs

Most Non-Linear Data Structures end up as non-primitive data structures.

Tip 😊: Primitive data structures are structures which are already predefined; while non-primitive data structures are structures that are defined and created through the use of other primitive data structures.

In the next article, we would be talking about the Linked List data structure.

So, stay tuned. Thank You🤗