CSE 326: Data Structures

Introduction

Data Structures - Introduction 1

 Class Overview

• Introduction to many of the basic data structures

used in computer software
– Understand the data structures
– Analyze the algorithms that use them
– Know when to apply them
• Practice design and analysis of data structures.
• Practice using these data structures by writing
programs.
• Make the transformation from programmer to
computer scientist

Data Structures - Introduction 2

 Goals
• You will understand
– what the tools are for storing and processing common
data types
– which tools are appropriate for which need
• So that you can
– make good design choices as a developer, project
manager, or system customer
• You will be able to
– Justify your design decisions via formal reasoning
– Communicate ideas about programs clearly and
precisely

Data Structures - Introduction 3

 Goals

“I will, in fact, claim that the difference

between a bad programmer and a good
one is whether he considers his code or
his data structures more important. Bad
programmers worry about the code. Good
programmers worry about data structures
and their relationships.”
Linus Torvalds, 2006
Data Structures - Introduction 4
 Goals

“Show me your flowcharts and conceal

your tables, and I shall continue to be
mystified. Show me your tables, and I
won’t usually need your flowcharts; they’ll
be obvious.”
Fred Brooks, 1975

Data Structures - Introduction 5

 Data Structures
“Clever” ways to organize information in
order to enable efficient computation

– What do we mean by clever?

– What do we mean by efficient?

Data Structures - Introduction 6

 Picking the best
Data Structure for the job

• The data structure you pick needs to

support the operations you need
• Ideally it supports the operations you will
use most often in an efficient manner
• Examples of operations:
– A List with operations insert and delete
– A Stack with operations push and pop

Data Structures - Introduction 7

 Terminology
• Abstract Data Type (ADT)
– Mathematical description of an object with set of
operations on the object. Useful building block.
• Algorithm
– A high level, language independent, description of a
step-by-step process
• Data structure
– A specific family of algorithms for implementing an
abstract data type.
• Implementation of data structure
– A specific implementation in a specific language

Data Structures - Introduction 8

 Terminology examples
• A stack is an abstract data type supporting
push, pop and isEmpty operations
• A stack data structure could use an array, a
linked list, or anything that can hold data
• One stack implementation is java.util.Stack;
another is java.util.LinkedList

Data Structures - Introduction 9

 Concepts vs. Mechanisms
• Abstract • Concrete
• Pseudocode • Specific programming language
• Algorithm • Program
– A sequence of high-level, – A sequence of operations in a
language independent specific programming language,
operations, which may act which may act upon real data in
upon an abstracted view of the form of numbers, images,
data. sound, etc.
• Abstract Data Type (ADT) • Data structure
– A mathematical description – A specific way in which a
of an object and the set of program’s data is represented,
operations on the object. which reflects the programmer’s
design choices/goals.

Data Structures - Introduction 10

Why So Many Data Structures?
Ideal data structure:
“fast”, “elegant”, memory efficient
Generates tensions:
– time vs. space
– performance vs. elegance
– generality vs. simplicity
– one operation’s performance vs. another’s
The study of data structures is the study of
tradeoffs. That’s why we have so many of
them!
Data Structures - Introduction 11
 Today’s Outline
• Introductions
• Administrative Info
• What is this course about?
• Review: Queues and stacks

Data Structures - Introduction 12

 First Example: Queue ADT

• FIFO: First In First Out

• Queue operations
create
destroy G enqueue
FEDCB
dequeue
A
enqueue
dequeue
is_empty

Data Structures - Introduction 13

 Circular Array Queue Data
Structure
Q
0 size - 1
b c d e f

front back
enqueue(Object x) {
Q[back] = x ;
back = (back + 1) % size
}
dequeue() {
x = Q[front] ;
front = (front + 1) % size;
return x ;
}
Data Structures - Introduction 14
 Linked List Queue Data Structure
b c d e f

front back

void enqueue(Object x) { Object dequeue() {

if (is_empty()) assert(!is_empty)
front = back = new return_data = front->data
Node(x) temp = front
else front = front->next
back->next = new Node(x) delete temp
back = back->next return return_data
} }
bool is_empty() {
return front == null
}
Data Structures - Introduction 15
 Circular Array vs. Linked List
• Too much space • Can grow as needed
• Kth element accessed • Can keep growing
“easily” • No back looping
• Not as complex around to front
• Could make array • Linked list code more
more robust complex

Data Structures - Introduction 16

 Second Example: Stack ADT
• LIFO: Last In First Out
• Stack operations
– create
– destroy A EDCBA
– push
– pop B
– top C
– D
is_empty
E
F F

Data Structures - Introduction 17

 Stacks in Practice
• Function call stack
• Removing recursion
• Balancing symbols (parentheses)
• Evaluating Reverse Polish Notation

Data Structures - Introduction 18

 Data Structures

Asymptotic Analysis

Data Structures - Introduction 19

 Algorithm Analysis: Why?
• Correctness:
– Does the algorithm do what is intended.
• Performance:
– What is the running time of the algorithm.
– How much storage does it consume.
• Different algorithms may be correct
– Which should I use?

Data Structures - Introduction 20

 Recursive algorithm for sum
• Write a recursive function to find the sum
of the first n integers stored in array v.

Data Structures - Introduction 21

 Proof by Induction
• Basis Step: The algorithm is correct for a base
case or two by inspection.

• Inductive Hypothesis (n=k): Assume that the

algorithm works correctly for the first k cases.

• Inductive Step (n=k+1): Given the hypothesis

above, show that the k+1 case will be calculated
correctly.

Data Structures - Introduction 22

 Program Correctness by Induction
• Basis Step:
sum(v,0) = 0. 

• Inductive Hypothesis (n=k):

Assume sum(v,k) correctly returns sum of first k
elements of v, i.e. v[0]+v[1]+…+v[k-1]+v[k]

• Inductive Step (n=k+1):

sum(v,n) returns
v[k]+sum(v,k-1)= (by inductive hyp.)
v[k]+(v[0]+v[1]+…+v[k-1])=
v[0]+v[1]+…+v[k-1]+v[k] 

Data Structures - Introduction 23

 Algorithms vs Programs
• Proving correctness of an algorithm is very important
– a well designed algorithm is guaranteed to work correctly and its
performance can be estimated

• Proving correctness of a program (an implementation) is

fraught with weird bugs
– Abstract Data Types are a way to bridge the gap between
mathematical algorithms and programs

Data Structures - Introduction 24

 Comparing Two Algorithms
GOAL: Sort a list of names

“I’ll buy a faster CPU”

“I’ll use C++ instead of Java – wicked fast!”

“Ooh look, the –O4 flag!”

“Who cares how I do it, I’ll add more memory!”

“Can’t I just get the data pre-sorted??”

Data Structures - Introduction 25

 Comparing Two Algorithms
• What we want:
– Rough Estimate
– Ignores Details

• Really, independent of details

– Coding tricks, CPU speed, compiler
optimizations, …
– These would help any algorithms equally
– Don’t just care about running time – not a good
enough measure

Data Structures - Introduction 26

 Big-O Analysis
• Ignores “details”
• What details?
– CPU speed
– Programming language used
– Amount of memory
– Compiler
– Order of input
– Size of input … sorta.

Data Structures - Introduction 27

 Analysis of Algorithms
• Efficiency measure
– how long the program runs time complexity
– how much memory it uses space complexity
• Why analyze at all?
– Decide what algorithm to implement before
actually doing it
– Given code, get a sense for where bottlenecks
must be, without actually measuring it

Data Structures - Introduction 28

 Asymptotic Analysis

• Complexity as a function of input size n

T(n) = 4n + 5
T(n) = 0.5 n log n - 2n + 7
T(n) = 2n + n3 + 3n

• What happens as n grows?

Data Structures - Introduction 29

 Why Asymptotic Analysis?

• Most algorithms are fast for small n

– Time difference too small to be noticeable
– External things dominate (OS, disk I/O, …)

• BUT n is often large in practice

– Databases, internet, graphics, …

• Difference really shows up as n grows!

Data Structures - Introduction 30
 Exercise - Searching

2 3 5 16 37 50 73 75 126

bool ArrayFind(int array[], int n, int key){

// Insert your algorithm here

}
What algorithm would you
choose to implement this code
Data Structures - Introduction 31
snippet?
 Analyzing Code

Basic Java operations Constant time

Consecutive statements Sum of times
Conditionals Larger branch plus test
Loops Sum of iterations
Function calls Cost of function body
Recursive functions Solve recurrence relation

Data Structures - Introduction 32

 Linear Search Analysis

bool LinearArrayFind(int array[],

int n,
int key ) { Best Case:
for( int i = 0; i < n; i++ ) {
if( array[i] == key )
// Found it! Worst Case:
return true;
}
return false;
}

Data Structures - Introduction 33

 Binary Search Analysis

bool BinArrayFind( int array[], int low,

int high, int key ) {
// The subarray is empty
if( low > high ) return false; Best case:
// Search this subarray recursively
int mid = (high + low) / 2;
if( key == array[mid] ) {
return true; Worst case:
} else if( key < array[mid] ) {
return BinArrayFind( array, low,
mid-1, key );
} else {
return BinArrayFind( array, mid+1,
high, key );
}

Data Structures - Introduction 34

 Solving Recurrence Relations

1. Determine the recurrence relation. What is/are the base

case(s)?

2. “Expand” the original relation to find an equivalent general

expression in terms of the number of expansions.

3. Find a closed-form expression by setting the number of

expansions to a value which reduces the problem to a
base case

Data Structures - Introduction 35

 Data Structures

Asymptotic Analysis

Data Structures - Introduction 36

Linear Search vs Binary Search

Linear Search Binary Search

Best Case 4 at [0] 4 at [middle]

Worst Case 3n+2 4 log n + 4

So … which algorithm is better?

What tradeoffs can you make?

Data Structures - Introduction 37

Fast Computer vs. Slow
Computer

38
Fast Computer vs. Smart Programmer
(round 1)

39
Fast Computer vs. Smart Programmer
(round 2)

40
 Asymptotic Analysis
• Asymptotic analysis looks at the order of
the running time of the algorithm
– A valuable tool when the input gets “large”
– Ignores the effects of different machines or
different implementations of an algorithm

• Intuitively, to find the asymptotic runtime,

throw away the constants and low-order
terms
– Linear search is T(n) = 3n + 2  O(n)
– Binary search is T(n) = 4 log2n + 4  O(log n)

Remember: the fastest algorithm has the

slowest growing function for its runtime
Data Structures - Introduction 41
 Asymptotic Analysis
• Eliminate low order terms
– 4n + 5 
– 0.5 n log n + 2n + 7 
– n3 + 2n + 3n 
• Eliminate coefficients
– 4n 
– 0.5 n log n 
– n log n2 =>

Data Structures - Introduction 42

 Properties of Logs
• log AB = log A + log B
• Proof:
A2 log 2 A
,B  2 log 2 B

AB  2log 2 A  2log 2 B  2 (log 2 A log 2 B )

 log AB  log A  log B
• Similarly:
– log(A/B) = log A – log B
– log(AB) = B log A

• Any log is equivalent to log-base-2

Data Structures - Introduction 43
 Order Notation: Intuition

f(n) = n3 + 2n2
g(n) = 100n2 + 1000

Although not yet apparent, as n gets “sufficiently large”,

f(n) will be “greater than or equal to” g(n)
Data Structures - Introduction 44
Definition of Order Notation
• Upper bound: T(n) = O(f(n)) Big-O
Exist positive constants c and n’ such that
T(n)  c f(n) for all n  n’

• Lower bound: T(n) = (g(n)) Omega

Exist positive constants c and n’ such that
T(n)  c g(n) for all n  n’

• Tight bound: T(n) = (f(n)) Theta

When both hold:
T(n) = O(f(n))
T(n) = (f(n))

Data Structures - Introduction 45

 Definition of Order Notation
O( f(n) ) : a set or class of functions

g(n)  O( f(n) ) iff there exist positive consts c

and n0 such that:

g(n)  c f(n) for all n  n0

Example:
100n2 + 1000  5 (n3 + 2n2) for all n  19

So g(n)  O( f(n) )
Data Structures - Introduction 46
Order Notation: Example

100n2 + 1000  5 (n3 + 2n2) for all n  19

So f(n)  O( g(n) )
Data Structures - Introduction 47
 Some Notes on Notation
• Sometimes you’ll see
g(n) = O( f(n) )
• This is equivalent to
g(n)  O( f(n) )

• What about the reverse?

O( f(n) ) = g(n)

Data Structures - Introduction 48

 Big-O: Common Names
– constant: O(1)
– logarithmic: O(log n) (logkn, log n2  O(log n))
– linear: O(n)
– log-linear: O(n log n)
– quadratic: O(n2)
– cubic: O(n3)
– polynomial: O(nk) (k is a constant)
– exponential: O(cn) (c is a constant > 1)

Data Structures - Introduction 49

 Meet the Family
• O( f(n) ) is the set of all functions asymptotically less
than or equal to f(n)
– o( f(n) ) is the set of all functions
asymptotically strictly less than f(n)
• ( f(n) ) is the set of all functions asymptotically
greater than or equal to f(n)
– ( f(n) ) is the set of all functions
asymptotically strictly greater than f(n)
• ( f(n) ) is the set of all functions asymptotically equal
to f(n)

Data Structures - Introduction 50

 Meet the Family, Formally
• g(n)  O( f(n) ) iff
There exist c and n0 such that g(n)  c f(n) for all n  n0
– g(n)  o( f(n) ) iff
There exists a n0 such that g(n) < c f(n) for all c and n  n0
Equivalent to: limn g(n)/f(n) = 0

• g(n)  ( f(n) ) iff

There exist c and n0 such that g(n)  c f(n) for all n  n0
– g(n)  ( f(n) ) iff
There exists a n0 such that g(n) > c f(n) for all c and n  n0
Equivalent to: limn g(n)/f(n) = 

• g(n)  ( f(n) ) iff

g(n)  O( f(n) ) and g(n)  ( f(n) )

Data Structures - Introduction 51

Big-Omega et al. Intuitively

Asymptotic Notation Mathematics

Relation
O 
 
 =
o <
 >

Data Structures - Introduction 52

 Pros and Cons
of Asymptotic Analysis

Data Structures - Introduction 53

Perspective: Kinds of Analysis
• Running time may depend on actual data
input, not just length of input
• Distinguish
– Worst Case
• Your worst enemy is choosing input
– Best Case
– Average Case
• Assumes some probabilistic distribution of inputs
– Amortized
• Average time over many operations

Data Structures - Introduction 54

 Types of Analysis
Two orthogonal axes:

– Bound Flavor
• Upper bound (O, o)
• Lower bound (, )
• Asymptotically tight ()

– Analysis Case
• Worst Case (Adversary)
• Average Case
• Best Case
• Amortized Data Structures - Introduction 55
 16n3log8(10n2) + 100n2 = O(n3log n)

• Eliminate 16n3log8(10n2) + 100n2

low-order 16n3log8(10n2)
terms n3log8(10n2)
n3(log8(10) + log8(n2))
n3log8(10) + n3log8(n2)
• Eliminate n3log8(n2)
constant 2n3log8(n)
coefficients n3log8(n)
n3log8(2)log(n)
n3log(n)/3
n3log(n)

Data Structures - Introduction 56