Visual Basic 2005 for Programmers: Deitel Developer Series, Second Edition

24.1. Introduction

This chapter begins our three-chapter data structures treatment. The data structure that we’ve studied thus far have had fixed sizes, such as one- and two-dimensional arrays. Here we introduce dynamic data structure that can grow and shrink at execution time. Linked lists are collections of data items “lined up in a row”—users can make insertions and deletions anywhere in a linked list. Stacks are important in compilers and operating systems; insertions and deletions are made at only one end—the top of the stack. Queues represent waiting lines; insertions are only made at the back (also referred to as the tail) of a queue, and deletions are made only from the front (also referred to as the head) of a queue. Binary trees facilitate ...