AI engineering glossary · Data structures algorithms
What is data structure?
Data structure: A way of organising values in memory so that particular operations, such as looking up, adding or removing items, are fast and easy to write. Different layouts favour different operations, so choosing one is a central design decision in every program.
Data structure: an example
Storing 10,000 customer IDs in a hash-based set makes 'is this ID present?' take about one step, while a plain list needs up to 10,000 checks.
Related terms
More Data structures algorithms terms
- Depth-first search
- Deque
- Dijkstra's algorithm
- Directed acyclic graph
- Divide and conquer
- Doubly linked list
- Dynamic array
- Dynamic programming
Where you learn it
Data structure is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.