Editing Data Structures (section)

== <span style="color: #FFFFFF;">Understanding</span> ==
Data structures represent tradeoffs between '''Time''' (access speed) and '''Space''' (memory usage).

'''Linear vs. Non-Linear Structures''':
* '''Arrays''': Best for random access (I want the 500th item). Hard to resize or insert in the middle.
* '''Linked Lists''': Best for frequent insertions/deletions. Slow to find a specific item because you have to "walk" from the start.
* '''Hash Tables''': The "Magic" structure. By turning a name (key) into a number (hash), you can jump directly to the data. This is how high-performance databases work.

'''Hierarchical and Network Structures''':
* '''Trees''': Used whenever data is nested (folders on your computer, HTML on a webpage).
* '''Graphs''': The most flexible structure. Used to model the Internet, social networks (Facebook "friends"), or road maps.

'''The Power of Abstraction''': We often talk about "Stacks" or "Queues" as '''Abstract Data Types'''. You can build a Stack using an Array ''or'' a Linked List; the "user" doesn't care about the implementation as long as it follows the "Last-In, First-Out" rule.
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