Intro to data structures & algorithms

Ever heard the words, “Think like a programmer?” If you are doing anything related to programming, you have definitely come across the words. Getting acquainted with data structures and algorithms helps one think like a programmer. But what exactly are algorithms and data structures?

To really get a grasp of data structures & algorithms, one needs to understand the Big O Notation. Basically, the Big O Notation is used to describe the performance of an algorithm. This way, one is able to determine whether a given algorithm is scalable or not. Put simply, one is able to ascertain whether it's going to scale well as the input grows. Nonetheless, just because a code executes well in ones computer doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to perform well when given a large data set. However, what does the Big O Notation have to do with data structures & algorithms? Certain operations can be more or less costly depending on the data structure used and this is where Big O Notation really saves the day.

Data structures & algorithms henceforth are different ways of storing or manipulating data on one's computer. With big O, one is able to choose the best structure to perform the task at hand.