MIT 521 Data Structures and Algorithm

MIT 521
Data Structures and Algorithm
Introduction
Course objectives
 Be familiar with problem solving

 Be able to develop (and implement) algorithms
 Be able to trace algorithms
 Be able to select appropriate data structures and
algorithms for given problems
What is data?
 Data
 A collection of facts from which conclusion may be
drawn
 e.g. Data: Temperature 35°C; Conclusion: It is hot.
 Types of data
 Textual: For example, your name (Muhammad)
 Numeric: For example, your ID (090254)
 Audio: For example, your voice
 Video: For example, your voice and picture
 (...)
What is data structure?
 A particular way of storing and organizing
data in a computer so that it can be used
efficiently and effectively.
 Data structure is the logical or mathematical
model of a particular organization of data.
 A group of data elements grouped together
under one name.
 For example, an array of integers
Types of data structures
Array
Linked List
Queue Stack
Tree
There are many, but we named a few. We’ll learn these

data structures in great detail!
The Need for Data Structures
 Goal: to organize data
 Criteria: to facilitate efficient

 storage of data
 retrieval of data
 manipulation of data
 Design Issue:
 select and design appropriate data types
(This is the main motivation to learn and understand data
structures)
Data Structure Operations
(Demonstrate using class room example!)
 Traversing
 Accessing each data element exactly once so that
certain items in the data may be processed
 Searching
 Finding the location of the data element (key) in the
structure
 Insertion
 Adding a new data element to the structure
Data Structure Operations (cont.)
 Deletion
 Removing a data element from the structure
 Sorting
 Arrange the data elements in a logical order
(ascending/descending)
 Merging
 Combining data elements from two or more data
structures into one
What is algorithm?
 A finite set of instructions which accomplish a
particular task
 A method or process to solve a problem
 Transforms input of a problem to output
Algorithm = Input + Process + Output
Algorithm development is an art – it needs practice,

practice and only practice!
What is a good algorithm?
 It must be correct
 It must be finite (in terms of time and size)
 It must terminate
 It must be unambiguous
 Which step is next?
 It must be space and time efficient
A program is an instance of an algorithm,

written in some specific programming language
A simple algorithm
 Problem: Find maximum of a, b, c
 Algorithm
 Input = a, b, c
 Output = max
 Process
o Let max = a
o If b > max then
max = b
o If c > max then
max = c
o Display max
Order is very important!!!

Algorithm development: Basics
 Clearly identify:
 what output is required?
 what is the input?
 What steps are required to transform input into
output
o The most crucial bit
o Needs problem solving skills
o A problem can be solved in many different ways
o Which solution, amongst the different possible
solutions is optimal?
How to express an algorithm?
 A sequence of steps to solve a problem
 We need a way to express this sequence of steps
 Natural language (NL) is an obvious choice, but not a
good choice. Why?
o NLs are notoriously ambiguous (unclear)
 Programming language (PL) is another choice, but
again not a good choice. Why?
o Algorithm should be PL independent
 We need some balance
o We need PL independence
o We need clarity
o Pseudo-code provides the right balance
What is pseudo-code?
 Pseudo-code is a short hand way of describing a
computer program
 Rather than using the specific syntax of a
computer language, more general wording is used
 It is a mixture of NL and PL expressions, in a
systematic way
 Using pseudo-code, it is easier for a non-
programmer to understand the general workings of
the program
Pseudo-code: general guidelines
 Use PLs construct that are consistent with

modern high level languages, e.g. C++, Java, ...
 Use appropriate comments for clarity
 Be simple and precise
Components of Pseudo-code
 Expressions
 Standard mathematical symbols are used
o Left arrow sign (←) as the assignment operator in
assignment statements (equivalent to the = operator in Java)
o Equal sign (=) as the equality relation in Boolean
expressions (equivalent to the "= =" relation in Java)
o For example
Sum ← 0
Sum ← Sum + 5
What is the final value of sum?

Components of Pseudo-code (cont.)
 Decision structures (if-then-else logic)
 if condition then true-actions [else false-actions]
 We use indentation to indicate what actions should be
included in the true-actions and false-actions
 For example
if marks > 50 then
print “Congratulation, you are passed!”
else
print “Sorry, you are failed!”
end if
What will be the output if marks are equal to 75?

 Loops (Repetition)
 Pre-condition loops
o While loops
• while condition do actions
• We use indentation to indicate what actions should be included in
the loop actions
• For example
while counter < 5 do
print “Welcome to CS204!”
counter ← counter + 1
end while
What will be the output if counter is initialised to 0, 7?

 Pre-condition loops
o For loops
• for variable-increment-definition do actions
• For example
for counter ← 0; counter < 5; counter ← counter + 2 do
end for
What will be the output?

 Post-condition loops
o Do loops
• do actions while condition
• For example
do
counter ← counter + 1
while counter < 5
What will be the output, if counter was initialised to 10?
The body of a post-condition loop must execute at least once

 Method declarations
 Return_type method_name (parameter_list) method_body
 For example
integer sum ( integer num1, integer num2)
start
result ← num1 + num2
end
 Method calls
 object.method (args)
 For example
mycalculator.sum(num1, num2)
 Method returns
 return value
 For example
integer sum ( integer num1, integer num2)
start
result ← num1 + num2
return result
end
 Comments
 /* Multiple line comments go here. */
 // Single line comments go here
 Some people prefer braces {}, for comments
 Arrays
 A[i] represents the ith cell in the array A.
 The cells of an n-celled array A are indexed from A[0]
to A[n − 1] (consistent with Java).
Algorithm Design: Practice
 Example 1: Determining even/odd number
 A number divisible by 2 is considered an even
number, while a number which is not divisible by 2 is
considered an odd number. Write pseudo-code to
display first N odd/even numbers.
 Example 2: Computing Weekly Wages

 Gross pay depends on the pay rate and the number of
hours worked per week. However, if you work more
than 40 hours, you get paid time-and-a-half for all
hours worked over 40. Write the pseudo-code to
compute gross pay given pay rate and hours worked
Even/ Odd Numbers
Input range
for num←0; num<=range; num←num+1 do
if num % 2 = 0 then
print num is even
else
print num is odd
endif
endfor
Computing weekly wages
Input hours_worked, pay_rate
if hours_worked <= 40 then
gross_pay ← pay_rate x hours_worked
else
basic_pay ← pay_rate x 40
over_time ← hours_worked – 40
over_time_pay ← 1.5 x pay_rate x over_time
gross_pay ← basic_pay + over_time_pay
endfor
print gross_pay
Homework
1. Write an algorithm to find the largest of a

set of numbers. You do not know the
number of numbers.
2. Write an algorithm in pseudocode that finds
the average of (n) numbers.
For example numbers are [4,5,14,20,3,6]

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MIT 521

Data Structures and Algorithm

 Be familiar with problem solving

There are many, but we named a few. We’ll learn these

 Criteria: to facilitate efficient

Algorithm = Input + Process + Output

Algorithm development is an art – it needs practice,

A program is an instance of an algorithm,

Order is very important!!!

 Use PLs construct that are consistent with

What is the final value of sum?

What will be the output if marks are equal to 75?

What will be the output if counter is initialised to 0, 7?

What will be the output?

What will be the output, if counter was initialised to 10?

The body of a post-condition loop must execute at least once

 Example 2: Computing Weekly Wages

1. Write an algorithm to find the largest of a

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