By-

MAYANK
VARSHNEY
Specification and Implementation of Elementary Data
Types
Specification and Implementation of Structured Data
Types
Type Equivalence, Checking and Conversion
Vectors and Arrays
Lists ,Structures
Sets ,Files
 a run-time grouping of one or more pieces of data in a
virtual computer.
a location in memory with an assigned name in the actual
computer.

Programmer defined data objects

Data value : a bit pattern that is recognized by the
System defined data objects
computer.
Elementary data object: contains a data value that is
manipulated as a unit.
Data structure: a combination of data objects.

Attributes: determine how the location may be used.

Most important attribute - the data type.
 Type: determines the set of data values that the object
may take and the applicable operations.
Name: the binding of a name to a data object.
Component: the binding of a data object to one or more data
objects.
These attributes are bound at translation
 Location: the storage location in memory assigned
by the system (bound at loading)

Value: the assignment of a bit pattern to a name (bound

at execution)
In programs, data objects are represented as variables
and constants
Variables : Data objects defined and named by the
programmer explicitly.
Constants:
Data objects with a name that is permanently bound to a
value for its lifetime.
Literals: constants whose name is the written
representation of their value.
A programmer-defined constant: the name is
chosen by the programmer in a definition of data object.
Persistence: existence of data beyond run time
A data type is a class of data objects with a set of
operations for creating and manipulating them.

Examples of elementary data types:

integer, real, character, Boolean, enumeration,
pointer.
•Attributes
•Values
•Operations
Distinguish data objects of a given type Data type and
name - invariant during the lifetime of the object
Approaches:
• stored in a descriptor and used during the program
execution
• used only to determine the storage representation, not
used explicitly during execution
The data type determines the values that a data object of that
type may have

Specification: Usually an ordered set, i.e. it has a least and a

greatest value
Operations define the possible manipulations of data objects
of that type.
Primitive - specified as part of the language definition
Programmer-defined (as subprograms, or class
methods)
An operation is defined by:
· Domain - set of possible input arguments
· Range - set of possible results
· Action - how the result is produced
Specifies the domain and the range
• the number, order and data types of the arguments in the
domain,
• the number, order and data type of the resulting range
mathematical notation for the specification:
op name: arg type x arg type x … x arg type →result type
The action is specified in the operation
implementation.
Undefined operations for certain inputs.
Implicit arguments, e.g. use of global variables
Implicit results - the operation may modify its
arguments
Self-modification - usually through change of local data
between calls, e.g. random number generators change
the seed.
Storage representation
Implementation of operations Influenced by the
hardware Described in terms of:
 Size of the memory blocks required
Layout of attributes and data values within the
block

determined by the compiler and not stored in descriptors

during execution - C
 stored in a descriptor as part of the data object at run time
- LISP Prolog
• Hardware operation direct implementation. E.g.
integer addition
• Subprogram/function, e.g. square root operation
• In-line code Instead of using a subprogram, the code is
copied into the program at the point where the subprogram
would have been invoked.
Scalar Data Types
Numerical Data Types
Other

Composite Data Types

Character Strings
Pointers and Programmer-Constructed Objects
Files
 Numeric Data Types
Scalar data types represent a single object, i.e. only one
value can be derived.

In general, scalar objects follow the hardware architecture of

a computer.
Integers
Sub -ranges
Floating-point real numbers
Fixed-point real numbers
Other Data Types -
 Complex numbers
Rational numbers
Enumerations
Booleans
Characters

Specification
Maximal and minimal values Operations:
Arithmetic
 Relational
Assignment
Bit operations
Implementation - hardware defined

Specification: subtype of integer

a sequence of integer values within some restricted range
Example:
 Pascal declaration A: 1..10 means that the variable
A may be assigned integer values from 1 through
10.

Implementation smaller storage requirements,

better type checking

Specification: Minimum and maximal value

Round-off issues - the check for equality may fail due
to round -off
Implementation
Mantissa - exponent model.
Example: 10.5 = 0.105 x 102,
Mantissa: 105, Exponent: 2

Specification: real numbers with predefined

decimal places Implementation :
directly supported by hardware or simulated by
 software

Complex numbers: software simulated with two storage

locations one the real portion and one for the imaginary
portion.
Rational numbers: the quotient of two integers.
Enumerations: Ordered list of different values
Booleans
Characters
Example:
enum StudentClass
{Fresh, Soph, Junior, Senior} the variable
StudentClass may accept only one of the four listed
values.
Implementation: represented during run time as integers,
corresponding to the listed values.
 Specification: Two values: true and false. Can be
given explicitly as enumeration Basic operations:
and, or, not.
Implementation: A single addressable unit such as byte or
word.
Use a particular bit for the value, e.g. the last bit; 1 -
true, 0 -false.
 Use the entire storage; a zero value would then be
false, otherwise - true.
Specification: Single character as a value of a data object.
Collating sequence - the ordering of the characters,
used for lexicographic sorting.
Operations:
Relational
Assignment
Testing the type of the character - e.g. digit,
letter, special symbol.
Implementation supported by the underlying hardware
Characterized by a complex data structure organization,
processed by the compiler.

Character Strings
Pointers and Programmer- Constructed Objects
Files
Specification:
Fixed declared length : storage allocation at
translation time. Strings longer than the declared
length are truncated.
Variable length to a declared bound: storage
allocation at translation time. An upper bound for
length is set and any string over that length is
truncated
 Unbounded length: storage allocation at run time.
String can be any length

o Concatenation – appending two strings o

Relational operations – equal, less than, greater
than o Substring selection using positioning
subscripts o Substring selection using pattern
matching o Input / output formatting o
Dynamic strings - the string is evaluated at run
time.

Fixed declared length: A packed vector of characters

Variable length to a declared bound: a descriptor that
contains the maximum length and the current length
Unbounded length: Either a linked storage of
fixedlength data objects or a contiguous array of
characters with dynamic run-time storage allocation
Specification:
Reference data objects only of a single type – C,
Pascal, Ada.
Reference data objects of any type – Smalltalk
C, C++: pointers are data objects and can be
manipulated by the program
Java: pointers are hidden data structures, managed by
the language implementation
Absolute addresses stored in the pointer. Allows for storing
the new object anywhere in the memory
Relative addresses: offset with respect to some base address.
Advantages: the entire block can be moved to
another location without invalidating the addresses in the
pointers, since they are relative, not absolute.
o Management of a general heap storage area: to create
objects of different size o Garbage - the contents of
pointer is destroyed, and the object still exists o Dangling
references: the object is destroyed however the pointer
still contains the address of the used location, and can be
wrongly used by the program.
Characteristics:
• Usually reside on secondary storage devices as disks, tapes.
• Lifetime is greater than the lifetime of the program that has
created the files.
Implementation – as part of the operating system
Sequential file: a data structure composed of a linear
sequence of components of the same type.

Interactive Input-Output: sequential files used in

interactive mode.

Direct Access Files: Any single component can be accessed

at random just as in an array.
Key: the subscript to access a component.
Implementation: a key table is kept in main memory
Indexed Sequential Files: Similar to direct access files
using a key combined with being able to sequentially
process the file. The file must be ordered by the key

A data structure is a data object that contains other data

objects as its elements or components. Mechanisms to create new
data types:
Structured data
Homogeneous: arrays, lists, sets,
Non-homogeneous: records
Subprograms
Type declarations – to define new types and operations
(Abstract data types)
Inheritance

•Number of components and size

•Type of each component

•Selection mechanism
•Maximum number of components

•Organization of the components

•Number of components and size

Fixed size - Arrays
Variable size – stacks, lists. Pointer is used to link
components.

•Type of each component

Homogeneous – all components are the same
type
 Heterogeneous – components are of different
types

Selection mechanism to identify components –

index, pointer

Two-step process:
referencing the structure
selection of a particular component
• Simple linear sequence - arrays, stacks, lists
• Multidimensional structures:
• separate types (Fortran)
• a vector of vectors (C++)
Component selection operations
Sequential
 Random
Insertion/deletion of components

Whole-data structure operations

Creation/destruction of data structures

Storage representations

Implementation of operations on data structures

Storage management

storage for the components

optional descriptor, contains some or all of the attributes

Sequential representation
Linked representation
 The data structure is stored in a single contiguous block
of storage, that includes both descriptor and components.

Used for fixed-size structures, homogeneous

structures (arrays, character strings)

The data structure is stored in several noncontiguous

blocks of storage, linked together through pointers.
 Used for variable-size structured (trees, lists)

Flexible, ensures true variable size, however it has to be

software simulated

Component selection in sequential representation

Base address plus offset calculation. Add
component size to current location to move to next
component.
Component selection in linked representation
Move from address location to address location
following the chain of pointers.

Access paths to a structured data object - to

endure access to the object for its processing.
Created using a name or a pointer.

Two central problems:

 Garbage – data object is bound but access
path is destroyed. Memory cannot be
unbound.

Dangling references: the data object is destroyed,

but the access path still exists.

What is to be checked:
• Existence of a selected component

• Type of a selected component

Two questions to be answered:

•When are two types the same?

•When do 2 objects have the same value?

Two data types are considered equivalent only if
they have the same name.

Issues
Every object must have an assigned type, there can
be no anonymous types.

A singe type definition must serve all or large parts

of a program.
Two data types are considered equivalent if they define
data objects that have the same internal components.

Issues
• Do components need to be exact duplicates?
• Can field order be different in records?
• Can field sizes vary?
Two objects are equal if each member in one object
is identical to the corresponding member of the other
object.

The compiler has no way to know how to compare data

values of user-defined type. It is the task of the
programmer that has defined that particular data type to
define also the operations with the objects of that type.
Type checking: checking that each operation executed by a
program receives the proper number of arguments of the
proper data types.

Static type checking is done at compilation.

Dynamic type checking is done at run-time.
Strong typing: all type errors can be statically checked
Type inference: implicit data types, used if the interpretation is
unambiguous.
 Type Conversion and Coercion
Coercion: Implicit type conversion, performed by the
system.
Explicit conversion : routines to change from one data type
to another.

Vector - one dimensional array

Matrix - two dimensional array

Multidimensional arrays

Slice - a substructure in an array that is also an array, e.g.

a column in a matrix

Associative Arrays - elements are selected by a key value

Access - can be implemented efficiently if the length of
the components of the array is known at compilation
time.
The address of each selected element can be computed
using an arithmetic expression.

Whole array operations, e.g. copying an array - may

require much memory.
 A record is data structure composed of a fixed
number of components of different types.

The components may be heterogeneous, and they are

named with symbolic names.

Records and arrays with structured components

Lists and sets

Executable data objects
Data structures are considered to be a special type of
program statements and all are treated in the same way
(Prolog).

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