DATA STRUCTURES you MUST know (as a Software Developer)

the speaker discusses the five most important data structures in programming, aiming to simplify the concepts without using much technical jargon. The speaker starts by explaining what a data structure is — a way of grouping data items together. The five data structures covered are:

1. Linked List: A collection of nodes, each containing a value and a pointer to the next node in the list. Good for adding and deleting nodes but not efficient for retrieval or searching.
2. Array: A continuous block of cells in memory. Efficient for retrieving items but not ideal for adding new elements if the array size grows.
3. Hash Table: Uses a hashing function to map keys to memory locations, allowing efficient retrieval and addition of data, but collisions can occur.
4. Stack and Queue: Both built on top of arrays. Stack is a last-in-first-out (LIFO) data structure used for depth-first search algorithms, while Queue is a first-in-first-out (FIFO) data structure used for breadth-first search algorithms.
5. Graphs and Trees: Graphs consist of nodes (vertices) connected by edges. Trees are hierarchical graphs with specific rules. Binary search trees (BST) allow efficient searching if they are balanced.

The speaker emphasizes that understanding data structures is crucial for solving algorithms and succeeding in programming interviews. They recommend platforms like CodeWars and LeetCode for practicing coding problems and algorithms.