CIS300 Spring 2005
What Is a Data Structure?
A ``data structure'' is
a ``container'' that holds elements. A data structure
has methods for
-
inserting an element
-
retrieving an element
-
deleting an element
and possibly others. Arrays are the classic example of data structure,
and one readily sees that the ``insertion'' operation looks like this:
dataStructure [ index ] = element ;
(it is disguised as an assignment, but it inserts an element into the array),
and the invocation of the retrieval operation looks like this:
dataStructure [ index ]
More commonly, people design their own data structures with methods
by writing classes. Here is an example, lifted verbatim from
Chapter 8 of the CIS200 notes.
Databases
Please read this detailed explanation of
a case study,
class Database:
http://www.cis.ksu.edu/~schmidt/CIS200/ch8V12database.html