Topic
Data Structures
Learn invariants, complexity, memory layout, edge cases, and implementation tradeoffs across related structures.
10 Concepts71 Articles21h 16m
Overview
Learn invariants, complexity, memory layout, edge cases, and implementation tradeoffs across related structures.
How this topic helps
Algorithms
System Design
Java
Langchain
Learning Path in this Topic
Series that contain articles from Data Structures. Select a path to filter the article list.
Articles
71 matched articles
Article 1The Ultimate Data Structures Cheat SheetTLDR: Data structures are tools. Picking the right one depends on what operation you do most: lookup, insert, delete, ordered traversal, top-k, prefix search, or graph navigation. Start from operation15 min
Article 2Tries (Prefix Trees): The Data Structure Behind AutocompleteTLDR: A Trie stores strings character by character in a tree, so every string sharing a common prefix shares those nodes. Insert and search are O(L) where L is the word length. Tries beat HashMaps on 17 min
Article 3Exploring Backtracking Techniques in Data StructuresTLDR: Backtracking is "Recursion with Undo." You try a path, explore it deeply, and if it fails, you undo your last decision and try the next option. It explores the full search space but prunes inval13 minArticle 4Big O Notation Explained: Time Complexity, Space Complexity, and Why They Matter in InterviewsTLDR: Big O notation describes how an algorithm's resource usage grows as input size grows — not how fast it runs on your laptop. Learn to identify the 7 complexity classes (O(1) through O(n!)), deriv34 minArticle 5Python Data Structures: Lists, Dicts, Sets, and TuplesTLDR: Python's four built-in collections are not interchangeable — their internals are fundamentally different. list is a dynamic array: fast at the end, slow for membership. dict is a hash table: O(126 minArticle 6DFS — Depth-First Search: Go Deep Before Going WideTLDR: DFS explores a graph by diving as deep as possible along each path before backtracking, using a call stack (recursion) or an explicit stack. It is the go-to algorithm for cycle detection, path f15 minPage 1 of 12