1. Sami Rollins srollins@mtholyoke.edu Spring 2006
CS312 Algorithms
Sami Rollins
Spring 2006

2. Introduction What is an algorithm? Why study algorithms?
How do you evaluate an algorithm?

3. Administrative Information
Course Website
Syllabus
Academic Dishonesty
Calendar

4. Data Structures What is a data structure?
“a scheme for organizing related pieces of information.“ -
Typically describes the operations which can be performed on the data and/or how data are organized to support those operations
Example data structures?
Array?
Linked list?

5. Common Data Structures
Stacks – Last In First Out (LIFO)
Insert on top
Remove top element
Queues – First In First Out (FIFO)
Insert at end
Remove from beginning
Trees - Hierarchy
Root
Parent
Children

6. Choosing a Data Structure
When would you use a…
Stack?
Queue?
Tree?

7. Implementing Data Structures
How would you implement a…
Stack?
Queue?
Tree?