Introduction to Data Structures

What is Data?

Dictionary Definition: Quantities, characters, or symbols on which operations are performed by a computer, stored, and transmitted as electrical signals, and recorded on media.
Example: Performing operations on quantities (e.g., arithmetic operations on numbers).

Data: Collection of characters or symbols without inherent meaning.
- Example: Random string of characters.
Information: Processed data arranged in a structured way to convey meaning.
- Example: Reversing a string to reveal "My name is Jaspreet."
Key Point: Data needs to be managed and structured to become meaningful information.

Definition: Systematic way to organize data for efficient use.
- Efficiency: In terms of time and space.
Example: Arrays
- Sequence or collection of symbols, characters, integers, floats.
- Useful for storing multiple values of the same type (e.g., 100 integers in an array vs. 100 separate variables).
- Managing strings as arrays of characters.

Stack in Undo/Redo Functionality
- Application: Used in Google Docs, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word.
- Mechanism: Actions are stored in a stack.
  - Undo (Ctrl+Z): Pops the last action and pushes it to a redo stack.
  - Redo (Ctrl+Y): Pops the last undo operation from the redo stack back to the undo stack.
Array in Bitmap Images
- Bitmap Images: Stored as series of pixels.
- 2D Array: Each pixel's color information is stored in a 2-dimensional array (e.g., 37x40 array to store an image of Pikachu).
Graph in Social Networking
- Example: Storing friendship information on Facebook.
- Graph Structure: Nodes represent people; edges represent friendships.
- Connections: Maintains who is friends with whom (e.g., James with Mark and Lia, Lucy with Mark and Lia).

Significance in IT: Crucial for efficiently managing and retrieving data.
Industry Relevance: Highly valued skill due to practical applications in software development.

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