Author: Ms. V. Rekha, M.Sc., M.Phil., B.Ed., (Ph.D.)

ISBN: 978-81-986720-5-6

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59646/ds/352

Date of Publication: April 16, 2025

About the Book:

Data Structures: A Comprehensive Guide is an extensive and well-organized textbook designed to provide a solid foundation in data structures and their algorithmic applications. Spanning ten comprehensive units, the book begins with a clear introduction to fundamental concepts such as data types, abstract data types (ADTs), and algorithm complexity—laying the groundwork for deeper study. It then delves into linear structures like arrays and linked lists, detailing their various forms, operations, and practical implementations. The book thoroughly explains stack and queue structures, including their array-based implementations and real-world applications such as expression conversion, recursion, and maze solving. As the content advances, readers are introduced to hierarchical structures such as trees and binary trees, followed by binary search trees, heaps, and self-balancing AVL trees. Each data structure is accompanied by detailed definitions, insertion and deletion algorithms, traversal techniques, and example problems. Specialized structures like B-Trees are also explored, particularly in the context of database indexing and balanced searching. The final unit covers graph theory, introducing essential terminology, representation techniques, and key algorithms such as breadth-first search, depth-first search, Dijkstra’s shortest path algorithm, and minimum spanning tree algorithms like Kruskal’s and Prim’s. Each unit concludes with thoughtfully designed questions to test comprehension and encourage critical thinking. Whether you’re a computer science student, an aspiring software engineer, or someone preparing for technical interviews, this book offers a complete and approachable journey through one of the most vital areas in computer science.