Let's Talk Data Structures & Algorithms

By now, most people know that almost everything runs on a computer.  Things like your car, dishwasher, alarm system, traffic lights, etc... But, what most people don't understand is that within the depths of those computer programs are patterns establishing control. Those patterns are called algorithms. An algorithm is a sequence of instructions telling a computer what to do.

These mysterious lines of code can be very simple to very complex. In this Mashable video, a University of Washington professor explains how algorithms work. When people think of algorithms, immediately they think of mathematical calculations, but in many instances that is not the case. 

For example, on the Facebook News Feed, by default we are not shown our friends' most recent posts. We are actually shown what Facebook's Algorithm believes we are most interested in based on how we interact with certain friends, and the types of content we engage most with on the social network. 

Combining algorithms with data structures can assist with organizing and storing information in a way that we can perform operations on that stored information more efficiently. Data structures are involved in almost every single software system so it's crucial to understand its types & purposes. Eight types of data structures are Stacks, Queues, Linked Lists, Arrays, Hash Tables, Heaps, Graphs, and Trees. 

Depending on your project and the scope of its function will determine which of the above structures you'd use to store data. You may use some or you may use all. Whichever you choose, the execution of your project should be off to a great start. 

Thanks for reading, 

Shanell A. Spann

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