Data structures SQA

1. What is a Data Structure?

In computer science, a data structure is a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer’s memory
so that it can be used efficiently.

2. What are the Subject Matters of Data Structure?

- Logical or mathematical description of the structure.

- Implementation of the structure on a computer.
- Quantitative analysis of the structure, which includes determining the amount of memory needed to store the
structure and the time required to process the structure.

3. What are linear and non-linear data Structures?

Linear: A data structure is said to be linear if its elements form a sequence or a linear list.
Examples: Array. Linked List, Stacks and Queues.

Non-Linear: A data structure is said to be non-linear if the traversal of nodes is nonlinear in nature.
Example: Graph and Trees.

4. What are the various operations that can be performed on different Data Structures?

• Insertion: Add a new data item in the given collection of data items.
• Deletion: Delete an existing data item from the given collection of data items.
• Traversal: Access each data item exactly once so that it can be processed.
• Searching: Find out the location of the data item if it exists in the given collection of data items.
• Sorting: Arranging the data items in some order i.e. in ascending or descending order in case of numerical
data and in dictionary order in case of alphanumeric data.

5. What do you understand by Complexity?

The complexity of an algorithm is the function which gives the running time and /or space in terms of the input
size. It describes the efficiency of the algorithm in terms of the amount of data the algorithm must process. There
are two main complexity measures of the efficiency of an algorithm:
• Time complexity
• Space complexity

6. How is an Array different from Linked List?

• The size of the arrays is fixed, Linked Lists are Dynamic in size.
• Inserting and deleting a new element in an array of elements is expensive, whereas both insertion and
deletion can easily be done in Linked Lists.
• Random access is not allowed in Linked Listed.
• Extra memory space for a pointer is required with each element of the Linked list.
• Arrays have better cache locality that can make a pretty big difference in performance.
7. What are the control structures available in DS?

Three types of logic or flow of control are used in data structures.

• Sequence logic or Sequential flow

• Selection logic or Conditional flow
• Iteration logic or Repetitive flow

8. What is a Queue, how it is different from the stack and how is it implemented?

Queue is a linear structure that follows the order is First in First Out (FIFO) to access elements. Mainly the
following are basic operations on queue: Enqueue, Dequeue, Front, Rear.

The difference between stacks and queues is in removing. In a stack we remove the item the most recently
added; in a queue, we remove the item the least recently added. Both Queues and Stacks can be implemented
using Arrays and Linked Lists.

9. What is Infix, prefix, Postfix notations?

Infix notation: X + Y – Operators are written in-between their operands. This is the usual way we write
expressions. An expression such as
A*(B+C)/D

Postfix notation (also known as “Reverse Polish notation”): X Y + Operators are written after their operands.
The infix expression given above is equivalent to
A B C + * D/

Prefix notation (also known as “Polish notation”): + X Y Operators are written before their operands. The
expressions given above are equivalent to
/*A+BCD

10. What is a Linked List and What are its types?

A linked list is a linear data structure (like arrays) where each element is a separate object. Each element (that is
node) of a list is comprising of two items – the data and a reference to the next node. Types of Linked List are:

Singly Linked List: In this type of linked list, every node stores address or reference of next node in list and the
last node has next address or reference as NULL.

Doubly Linked List: Here, here are two references associated with each node, One of the reference points to
the next node and one to the previous node.

Circular Linked List: Circular linked list is a linked list where all nodes are connected to form a circle. There
is no NULL at the end. A circular linked list can be a singly circular linked list or doubly circular linked list.
11. Which data structures are used for BFS and DFS of a graph?

• Queue is used for BFS.

• Stack is used for DFS. DFS can also be implemented using recursion (Note that recursion also uses
function call stack).

12. What is the difference between a File Structure and a Data Structure?

File Structure Data Structure

Data stored on disk Data stored on both RAM and disk
Standard file storage policies Customized storage policies
Low compatibility with external apps High compatibility with external apps

13. What is a linked list?

A linked list is a data structure that consists of individual entities called nodes. These nodes have the capability
to connect to other nodes and create a chain in the process. This continuous chain structure forms a linked list,
as the name suggests.

14. What are the string operations?

Various string operations have been developed. These are described below.

• Substring
• Indexing
• Concatenation
• Length

15. What are the operations used for word processing?

The operations usually associated with word processing are the following:
• Insertion
• Deletion and
• Replacement

16. What is pattern Matching?

Pattern matching is the problem of deciding whether or not a given string pattern P appears in a string text T.

17. Where are Data Structures primarily used?

Data structures are very much needed in almost all of the fields that you can think of. Algorithms are the primary
requirement in every data handling situation.

Following are some of the scenarios where data structures are widely used:

• Numerical computation
• Operating system design
• Artificial Intelligence
• Compiler design
• Database handling
• Lexical analysis
• Statistics
18. What are the types of searching used in Data Structures?
The two primary methods of searching are linear search and binary search. Linear search involves iterating over
a data unit in order to perform the required operation. Binary search is more efficient in a way that it has the
ability to split the data unit into chunks and then perform a search operation.

19. What is a queue in Data Structures?

A queue is a widely used data structure that is used to denote the ordered access and manipulation of an element.
The operation of this data structure is exactly the same as a literal queue in the real world. Elements are added
one after the other and are processed on the front end.

20. What is Memory allocation and Garbage collection?

Memory Allocation
The maintenance of linked lists in memory assumes the possibility of inserting new nodes into the lists and hence
requires some mechanism which provides unused memory space for the new nodes.
Garbage Collection
Suppose some memory space becomes reusable because a node is deleted from a list or an entire list is deleted
from a program. Clearly, we want the space to be available for future use. One way to bring this about is to
immediately reinsert the space into the free-storage list.

21. What is Overflow and Underflow?

Overflow
Sometimes new data are to be inserted into a data structure but there is no available space. This situation is
usually called overflow. Overflow will occur in linked list when AVAIL = NULL and there is an insertion.

Underflow
Underflow refers to the situation where one wants to delete data from a data structure that is empty. Underflow
will occur in linked lists when START= NULL and there is a deletion.

22. What is Header linked List?

A header linked list is a linked list which always contains a special node, called the header node at beginning of
the list. The following are two kinds of widely used header lists:

A grounded header list is a header list where the last node contains the null pointer.
A circular header list is a header list where the last node points back to the header node.

23. What is Two-way Linked List?

A two-way list is a new list structure which can be traversed in two directions:

- in the usual forward direction from the beginning of the list to the end.
- in the backward direction from the end of the list to the beginning.

24. What is a Complete Binary Tree?

A tree is said to be complete if all its levels, except possibly the last, have the maximum number of possible
nodes, and if all the nodes at the last level appear as far left as possible.
25. What is Extended Binary Tree?
A binary tree T is said to be a 2-tree or an extended binary tree if each node N has either 0 or 2 children.

26. What is Source and Sink in Graph?

A node u is called a source if it has a positive outdegree but zero indegree. Similarly, u is called a sink if it has a
zero outdegree but a positive indegree.

27. What is a Complete Graph?

A graph G is said to be complete if every node u in G is adjacent to every other node v in G.

28. What is the meaning of stack?

A stack is a widely used data structure that provides users with the ability to work with data at one point only
that is the top element.

29. What is the working of LIFO?

LIFO stands for the Last in, First out access order. It is directly corresponding to how the data can be worked on
and modified. The data entity that is stored or pushed in last is the first one to be worked on at any point in time.
If there is a requirement to access the very first element stored, then first you have to retrieve all of the data that
came in after that element.

30. What is a Binary Search Tree?

A binary search tree is a data structure that stores data in a very efficient manner. It consists of two primary nodes
from the root node. The main thing here is that the values of the nodes in the left sub-tree are less in number than
the value of the root node, and the values of the nodes on the right of the root node are correspondingly higher
than the root. Also, individually both of these left and right sub-trees are their own binary search trees at all points
of time.

31. What is the meaning of FIFO?

FIFO, also known as First in, First out, is a way of representing a data operation on factors such as how data is
accessed and in what order. Here, the data that is first put into the list will be the first entity to exit from the
ordered data structure.

32. What is the difference between void and null in Data Structures?
Void is a data type identifier in data structures, while null is considered to be a value with no physical presence.
When void is used, it indicates that there is no size while initializing the data structure.

33. What are push and pop operations in Data Structures?

Both push and pop operations denote how data can be stored and used when required in a stack. The push
operation denotes that users are adding data into the structure, and the pop operation denotes that the data is being
pulled or removed from the structure. Usually, the top-most element is considered when performing push and pop
operations.

34. How is a variable stored in memory when using Data Structures?

A variable is stored based on the amount of memory that is needed. First, the required quantity of memory is
assigned, and later, it is stored based on the data structure being used. Using concepts such as dynamic allocation
ensures high efficiency and that the storage units can be supplied based on the requirements in real time.
35. What is merge sort?
Merge sort is a method of sorting, which is based on the divide and conquer technique. Here, data entities adjacent
to each other are first merged and sorted in every iteration to create sorted lists. These smaller sorted lists are
combined at the end to form the completely sorted list.

36. What is the use of dynamic Data Structures?

Dynamic data structures provide users with a lot of flexibility in terms of the provision of data storage and
manipulation techniques, which can change during the operation of the algorithm or the execution of the program.

37. What is the meaning of an AVL tree?

An AVL tree is a type of a binary search tree where the tree is only slightly balanced. Balance is the unit of
comparison between the heights of the subtrees from the main (root) node.

38. How does Huffman’s algorithm work?

Huffman’s algorithm uses a table, containing the frequency of the occurrence of every data entity on the list. This
is used for creating extended binary trees, which are known to have minimum weights for the path lengths. This
is considering each of the corresponding weights.

39. What are recursive algorithms?

Recursive algorithms are algorithms that solve a problem by breaking it down into simpler sub-problems and then
solving them iteratively. The output of one recursion operation is usually the direct input for the next iteration
operation, and this process goes on.

40. How does bubble sort work?

Bubble sort is one of the most used sorting techniques out there. It is applied to arrays where elements adjacent
to each other are compared and values are exchanged based on the order of arrangement. It’s called bubble sort
because of the concept of exchanging elements like a bubble floating to the top of the water and larger entities
sinking down to the bottom end.

41. Which is the fastest sorting algorithm available?

Among the many types of algorithms such as bubble sort, quick sort, merge sort, and more, it is not right to put
one method on the podium for performance as this greatly varies based on data, the reaction after the algorithm
processes the data, and how it’s stored. The concept of time complexity is considered here.

42. Where are Tree Data Structures used?

Tree data structures are used in a variety of applications. Following are some of them:
• Arithmetic expression handling
• Symbol table creation
• Lexical analysis
• Hierarchical data modeling

43. What are the Data Structures that are used in graphs?
To implement graphs, two data structures play a key role. They are:
Adjacency matrix: Used for sequential data representation
Adjacency list: Used to represent linked data
44. What are the Data Structures that are used in DFS and BFS algorithms?
In the depth-first search (DFS), the stack data structure is made use of. In the case of the breadth-first search
(BFS) technique, queues are used.

45. What are the disadvantages of implementing queues using arrays?

There are two main downsides when implementing queues using arrays. They are as follows:

Array sizing: The queue has to be constantly extended to make way for more elements that get implemented.
Always extending the size of the array will not be feasible as there will be a discrepancy in the creation of the
correct array size.

Memory dumps: The memory that is used to store the queue elements cannot be reused to actually store the
queue. This is because of the working of queues where insertion happens at the head node only.

46. When is a binary search best applied?

A binary search is an algorithm that is best applied to search a list when the elements are already in order or
sorted.

47. What is the advantage of the heap over a stack?

The heap is more flexible than the stack. That’s because memory space for the heap can be dynamically allocated
and de-allocated as needed. However, the memory of the heap can at times be slower when compared to that
stack.

48. What are doubly linked lists?

Doubly linked lists are a special type of linked list wherein traversal across the data elements can be done in both
directions. This is made possible by having two links in every node, one that links to the next node and another
one that connects to the previous node.

49. Why we need to do algorithm analysis?

A problem can be solved in more than one way. So, many solution algorithms can be derived for a given problem.
We analyze available algorithms to find and implement the best suitable algorithm.

50. What are asymptotic notations?

Asymptotic analysis can provide three levels of mathematical binding of execution time of an algorithm −
Best case is represented by Ω(n) notation.
Worst case is represented by Ο(n) notation.
Average case is represented by Θ(n) notation.

51. Briefly explain the approaches to develop algorithms.

There are three commonly used approaches to develop algorithms

Greedy Approach − finding solution by choosing next best option

Divide and Conquer − diving the problem to a minimum possible sub-problem and solving them
independently
Dynamic Programming − diving the problem to a minimum possible sub-problem and solving them
combinedly
52. Give some examples of greedy algorithms.
• Travelling Salesman Problem
• Prim's Minimal Spanning Tree Algorithm
• Kruskal's Minimal Spanning Tree Algorithm
• Dijkstra's Minimal Spanning Tree Algorithm
• Graph - Map Coloring
• Graph - Vertex Cover
• Knapsack Problem
• Job Scheduling Problem

53. What are some examples of divide and conquer algorithms?

• Merge Sort
• Quick Sort
• Binary Search
• Strassen's Matrix Multiplication
• Closest pair (points)

54. What are some examples of dynamic programming algorithms?

• Fibonacci number series
• Knapsack problem
• Tower of Hanoi
• All pair shortest path by Floyd-Warshall
• Shortest path by Dijkstra
• Project scheduling

55. Tell me something about 'insertion sort'?

Insertion sort divides the list into two sub-list, sorted and unsorted. It takes one element at time and finds it
appropriate location in sorted sub-list and insert there. The output after insertion is a sorted sub-list. It iteratively
works on all the elements of unsorted sub-list and inserts them to sorted sub-list in order.

56. What is selection sort?

Selection sort is in-place sorting technique. It divides the data set into two sub-lists: sorted and unsorted. Then it
selects the minimum element from unsorted sub-list and places it into the sorted list. This iterates unless all the
elements from unsorted sub-list are consumed into sorted sub-list.

57. How insertion sort and selection sorts are different?

Both sorting techniques maintains two sub-lists, sorted and unsorted and both take one element at a time and
places it into sorted sub-list. Insertion sort works on the current element in hand and places it in the sorted array
at appropriate location maintaining the properties of insertion sort. Whereas, selection sort searches the minimum
from the unsorted sub-list and replaces it with the current element in hand.

58. What is merge sort and how it works?

Merge sort is sorting algorithm based on divide and conquer programming approach. It keeps on dividing the list
into smaller sub-list until all sub-list has only 1 element. And then it merges them in a sorted way until all sub-
lists are consumed. It has run-time complexity of Ο(n log n) and it needs Ο(n) auxiliary space.
59. What is shell sort?
Shell sort can be said a variant of insertion sort. Shell sort divides the list into smaller sub list based on some gap
variable and then each sub-list is sorted using insertion sort. In best cases, it can perform up to Ο(n log n).

60. How quick sort works?

Quick sort uses divide and conquer approach. It divides the list in smaller 'partitions' using 'pivot'. The values
which are smaller than the pivot are arranged in the left partition and greater values are arranged in the right
partition. Each partition is recursively sorted using quick sort.

61. What is a graph?

A graph is a pictorial representation of a set of objects where some pairs of objects are connected by links. The
interconnected objects are represented by points termed as vertices, and the links that connect the vertices are
called edges.

62. What is a binary search tree?

A binary search tree is a binary tree with a special provision where a node's left child must have value less than
its parent's value and node's right child must have value greater than it's parent value.

63. What is an AVL Tree?

AVL trees are height balancing binary search tree. AVL tree checks the height of left and right sub-trees and
assures that the difference is not more than 1. This difference is called Balance Factor.

64. What is a spanning tree?

A spanning tree is a subset of Graph G, which has all the vertices covered with minimum possible number of
edges. A spanning tree does not have cycles and it cannot be disconnected.

65. How many spanning trees can a graph has?

It depends on how connected the graph is. A complete undirected graph can have maximum n-1 number of
spanning trees, where n is number of nodes.

66. What is a heap in data structure?

Heap is a special balanced binary tree data structure where root-node key is compared with its children and
arranged accordingly. A min-heap, a parent node has key value less than its child’s and a max-heap parent node
has value greater than its child’s.