Algorithms & DS

Arrays
 Arrays
• How do we store a list of data, e.g. numbers
• Could us separate variables for each one,
a,b,c,d,e,…
• Not very efficient, so we use an array instead.
• An array is a set of memory locations that
– Are contiguous (adjacent) in memory,
– Store a list of items of the same data type.
• Each array has a name and a set of locations
denoted by an index.
 Arrays
• Example. Array called A, holding a list of 9
elements.
• Each element has an index, e.g.
A(1),A(2),…,A(9). The index i is the
location and A(i) is the element itself.
• This array has 9 elements, the index is
shown. The elements are stored in the
boxes (memory locations)
• A
 Arrays
• The elements can be accessed individually
using the index. Example.
• A(1) := 5
• A(5) := 10
• A(8) := 15
• A(9) := 7, etc
• More usefully, the array elements can also be
accessed/manipulated using a for loop.
• for i = 1, 9
• A(i) := i+3
• end for
 Arrays
• This loops sets the array element A(i) to
the value i+1. Often the elements are
initialised to the value 0.
• So for loops are very useful for working
with loops, since all the elements (or some
of them) can be processed using a single
loop.
• The control variable in the loop is usually
the index of the array elements.
 Arrays
• The array is the simplest data structure.
• The array is a static data struture, i.e. once
it is defined its size cannot be changed.
• This is because a fixed amount of memory
space allocated when it is created.
• In programming languages, arrays must
be declared. This is to
– Define the data type to be stored.
– Define the array size
 Arrays
• Example 1. Array of numbers
• Marks(1) := 10
• Marks(2) := 14
• Marks(3) := 15
• Marks(4) := 20
• Marks(5) := 12
• Example 2. Array of names.
• Name(1) := “Jack”
• Name(2) := “Jill”
• Name(3) := “Jane”
• Name(4) := “Jake”
• Name(5) := “John”
• Since names are all different, must do them separately.
 Arrays
• Many Applications of arrays. Some are
– Storing lists of data
– Computing sequences and series of numbers.
– Mathematical/statistical computations.
• The arithmetic sequence a, a+d, a+2d, a + 3d, …
• The geometric sequence a, ar, ar2, ar3,…
• In arithmetic sequence each term differs by a constant
number, d
• In geometric sequence each term differs by a constant
multiple factor r.
• Arithmetic sequence: 1, 4, 7, 10,…
• Geometric sequence: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16,…
 Arrays
• A series is the sum of the terms of the sequence.
• E.g. Sn = sum of the first n terms of a sequence,
n = 1,2,3,…. The sum of the first n terms may be
computed using a for loop, which adds one term
each time the loop is executed.
• Other sequences, e.g. the Fibonacci sequence,
which is given by
• f1 = 1, f2 = 1, fi+1 = fi + fi-1, i = 2,3,4,…
• It’s 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,…