Editing Structure (section)

== Data ==
{{Main|Data structure}}
[[File:Singly-linked-list.svg|thumb|right|In a singly linked list, each element has a data value and a pointer to the next element.]]
In [[computer science]], a data structure is a way of organizing information in a [[computer]] so that it can be used efficiently.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Paul E. |last=Black |title=data structure |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures]] |editor-first1=Vreda |editor-last1=Pieterse |editor-first2=Paul E. |editor-last2=Black |publisher=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] |date=15 December 2004 |url=http://xlinux.nist.gov/dads/HTML/datastructur.html |edition=Online |access-date=1 October 2015 |archive-date=10 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810051100/https://xlinux.nist.gov/dads/HTML/datastructur.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Data structures are built out of two basic types: An [[Array data structure|array]] has an index that can be used for immediate access to any data item (some [[programming language]]s require array size to be [[Initialization (programming)|initialized]]). A [[linked list]] can be reorganized, grown or shrunk, but its elements must be accessed with a [[Reference (computer science)|pointer]] that links them together in a particular order.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sedgewick|first1=Robert|last2=Wayne|first2=Kevin|title=Algorithms|date=2011|publisher=Addison-Wesley Professional|isbn=9780132762564|edition=4th}}</ref>{{rp|156}} Out of these any number of other data structures can be created such as [[Stack (abstract data type)|stacks]], [[Queue (abstract data type)|queues]], [[Tree (data structure)|trees]] and [[hash table]]s.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Data structures|last1=Cormen|first1=Thomas H.|last2=Leiserson|first2=Charles E.|last3=Rivest|first3=Ronald L.|last4=Stein|first4=Clifford|title=Introduction to algorithms|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontoal00corm_805|url-access=limited|date=2009|publisher=MIT Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0262033848|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontoal00corm_805/page/n249 229]–339|edition=3rd}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mehta|first1=Dinesh P.|chapter=Basic structures|editor-last1=Mehta|editor-first1=Dinesh P.|editor-last2=Sahni|editor-first2=Sartaj|title=Handbook of data structures and applications|date=2005|publisher=Chapman & Hall/CRC Computer and Information Science Series|location=Boca Raton, Fla.|isbn=9781420035179}}</ref>

In solving a problem, a data structure is generally an integral part of the [[algorithm]].<ref name=Skiena>{{cite book|last1=Skiena|first1=Steven S.|chapter=Data structures|title=The algorithm design manual|url=https://archive.org/details/algorithmdesignm00skie_772|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Springer|location=London|isbn=9781848000704|pages=[https://archive.org/details/algorithmdesignm00skie_772/page/n377 366]–392|edition=2nd}}</ref>{{rp|5}} In modern programming style, algorithms and data structures are [[Encapsulation (computer programming)|encapsulated]] together in an [[abstract data type]].<ref name=Skiena/>{{rp|ix}}