Big O and Delphi data structures

Delphi's Run-Time Library (RTL) contains many data structures (classes that are specifically designed to store and retrieve data), mostly stored in System.Classes and System.Generics.Collection units that greatly simplify everyday work. We should, however, be aware of their good and bad sides.

Every data structure in the world is seeking a balance between four different types of data access: accessing the data, inserting the data, searching for data, and deleting data. Some data structures are good in some areas, others in different ones, but no data structure in this world can make all four operations independent of data size.

When designing a program, we should therefore know what our needs are. That will ...

Get Mastering Delphi Programming: A Complete Reference Guide now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.