Day 1: Software Development Fundamentals

Sep 28, 2024

Software Development Journey - Day 1 Notes

Introduction

  • Thanked participants for tuning in to tech-oriented videos.
  • Overview of the week's agenda: tutorials on software development, covering fundamental data structures and algorithms, state-of-the-art frameworks, and trending projects for portfolios.

Day 1: Fundamentals of Software Development

Data Structures

  • Act as the foundation of any software program.
  • Essential for developers to have a good understanding of data structures.
  • Tutorials organized with real-time examples.

Algorithm Basics

  • Definition: A method or set of rules to perform specific calculations or operations.
  • Example: Making tea with a sequential set of steps (input -> process -> output).

Characteristics of Algorithms

  1. Clear and Unambiguous: Steps must be straightforward and distinct.
  2. Well-defined Inputs: Inputs must be defined and indicate expected outputs.
  3. Well-defined Outputs: Clear expected outputs must be established.
  4. Feasibility: Algorithms must be practical and executable with available resources.
  5. Finiteness: Must not result in infinite loops.
  6. Language Independence: Algorithms should be implementable in any programming language.

Writing an Algorithm

  • No hard and fast rules.
  • Capable of supporting conditional and iterative statements.
  • Example: Algorithm to find the largest of three numbers (x, y, z).

Algorithm Analysis

Types of Analysis

  1. Priori Analysis: Theoretical analysis before implementation.
  2. Posterior Analysis: Practical analysis after implementation to determine time and space complexity.

Complexity Assessment

  • Time Complexity: Amount of time required to finish algorithm execution.
  • Space Complexity: Amount of space required to solve a problem and produce output.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Algorithms

Advantages

  • Easy to understand.
  • Break down problems into manageable steps.

Disadvantages

  • Time-consuming to write.
  • Difficult to demonstrate branching and looping statements.

Algorithms vs. Programming

  • Algorithm: A design for a solution that cannot be run directly.
  • Program: Directly implemented and tested code.
  • Algorithms are written in natural language, while programs use programming languages (C, C++, Java, Python).

Data Structures: Definition

  • Data is information converted to a format efficient for processing.
  • Data Structure: Organization management and storage format for efficient access/modification.

Characteristics of Data Structures

  • Efficient data search and retrieval.
  • Management of large datasets (e.g., databases).

Examples of Data Structures

  1. Dictionaries
  2. Music Playlists
  3. Stacks of Books
  4. Queues of People
  5. Google Maps (Graph data structure)

Types of Data Structures

Linear Data Structures

  1. Array: Continuous memory allocation.
  2. Linked List: Nodes linked together.
  3. Stack: Last In, First Out (LIFO).
  4. Queue: First In, First Out (FIFO).

Non-linear Data Structures

  1. Tree: Hierarchical structure of nodes.
  2. Graph: Collection of nodes and edges, representing relationships.

Importance of Data Structures

  • Used widely in computer science for computations.
  • Essential for efficient data management in algorithms.

Programming Languages for Data Structures

  1. C Language: General-purpose, used for operating systems and compilers.
  2. C++: Supports multiple programming styles, used for games and operating systems.
  3. Python: Easy syntax, used for scientific computing.
  4. Java: Used for web applications (YouTube, Google, etc.).

Prerequisites for Learning Data Structures and Algorithms

  • Basic syntax
  • Data types
  • Operators, variables, functions
  • Conditional statements and loops
  • Object-oriented programming concepts

Types of Arrays

  1. One Dimensional Arrays: Single subscript.
  2. Multi Dimensional Arrays: Multiple subscripts (2D, 3D).

Array Operations

  1. Traversal
  2. Insertion
  3. Deletion
  4. Searching
  5. Sorting

Advantages and Disadvantages of Arrays

Advantages

  • Simple data structure.
  • Random access to elements using index.

Disadvantages

  • Fixed size (cannot resize after declaration).
  • Inefficient insertion/deletion operations (requires reallocation).

Introduction to Pointers

  • Pointer: Variable that holds the address of another variable.
  • Types of Pointers: Null pointers, void pointers, dangling pointers.

Use Cases of Pointers

  1. Pointer arithmetic.
  2. Pointer to pointer.
  3. Array of pointers.
  4. Call by value and call by reference.

Conclusion

  • Summary of key concepts covered in Day 1 of software development journey.
  • Encouragement to practice and apply learned concepts.