Book Image

R Data Structures and Algorithms

By : PKS Prakash, Achyutuni Sri Krishna Rao
Book Image

R Data Structures and Algorithms

By: PKS Prakash, Achyutuni Sri Krishna Rao

Overview of this book

In this book, we cover not only classical data structures, but also functional data structures. We begin by answering the fundamental question: why data structures? We then move on to cover the relationship between data structures and algorithms, followed by an analysis and evaluation of algorithms. We introduce the fundamentals of data structures, such as lists, stacks, queues, and dictionaries, using real-world examples. We also cover topics such as indexing, sorting, and searching in depth. Later on, you will be exposed to advanced topics such as graph data structures, dynamic programming, and randomized algorithms. You will come to appreciate the intricacies of high performance and scalable programming using R. We also cover special R data structures such as vectors, data frames, and atomic vectors. With this easy-to-read book, you will be able to understand the power of linked lists, double linked lists, and circular linked lists. We will also explore the application of binary search and will go in depth into sorting algorithms such as bubble sort, selection sort, insertion sort, and merge sort.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
R Data Structures and Algorithms
Credits
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface

B-trees


Memory efficiency is an important aspect to be considered while designing data structure and algorithms. Memory can be broadly classified into two types:

  • Main memory (RAM)

  • External storage such as hard disk, CD ROM, tape, and so on

Data stored in main memory (RAM) has minimal access time thus preferred by most of the algorithms, whereas, if the data is stored in external drives then access times become critical, as it usually takes much longer to access data from external storage. Also, as the data size increases, retrieval become an issue. To deal with this issue data is stored in chunks as pages, blocks, or allocation units in external storage devices and indexing is used to retrieve these blocks efficiently. B-trees are one of the popular data structures used for accessing data from external storage devices. B-trees are proposed by R. Bayer and E. M. McCreight in 1972 and are better than binary search trees, especially if the data is stored in external memory.

B-trees are self-balancing...