Overview
What are data structures?Benefits and uses
What are generics?Benefits and uses
Live samplesSummary
Data Structures1. Collections of data 2. Fetch and store 3. type of data structure depends on situation4. Examples
Array, arraylist, list, linkedlist, stack, queue, dictionary, etc.
5. Most basic is the array
Arrays1. Most commonly used data structure2. Contents are stored in contiguous
memory3. All data must be same typePros:Quick direct access (for loop)Easy to useCons:Searching is proportional to data sizeCannot resize array
What are generics?
1. One of the most powerful features introduced in C# 2.0
2. System.Collections.Generic…3. Mainly used with collections/data
structures4. Type safety5. Generic methods
1. Similar operations on different data types
1. Pros• Type safety• Reduces the need for type casting – less run-time errors
• Performance boost – No boxing/unboxing (less code)
• maximize code reuse2. Cons• Can get complex• Learning curve
List<T>1. Similar to arrays – 2. A generic data structure3. Type-safe4. Dynamic resizing
- .Add() .Insert() .Remove()5. Built in search methods6. flexibility
Like a circular arrayFirst come first serve
Insertions made at the tailPros:
Good for processing Cons:
Not searchable Not many uses
Queues
Drawbacks of non-generic
data structuresData stored as type object– Casting: conversion of data types
double x = 1234.7;int a; a = (int)x; // cast double to int
– Limited type checking *
Increased Overhead– More work to getting something done
And then there’s LINQWrite queries (similar to SQL queries)Retrieve info from many data structures– Arrays, List<> etc.
Quick examplehttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb907066.aspx
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