In this course, we will focus mainly on **data structures**. However, algorithms and data structures go hand in hand with each other. Algorithms use data structures to manipulate the data effectively.


We can define a data structure as one that can **store some logically connected data so that this data can be processed efficiently**. And it is very important to have a way to process large amounts of data efficiently because if we have a lot of data, it often takes a lot of time to process it if the data is unstructured.


But how can we assess the quality improvement of our algorithm with the usage of the right data structure? That's what we will talk about in the next chapters.

Why are data structures essential in computer science?

The understanding of data structures and algorithms: this is what sets advanced professionals apart from the rest. In the modern world of growing data, it is very important to be able to process large amounts of data efficiently. 

In this course, you will study the most basic data structures that help us to deal with huge amounts of data as well as implement the most basic and crucial concepts on your own so you’ll get a deeper understanding of how each data structure works and you'll be able to decide what data structure best suited for your task.

When we start learning something new, it is very important to get familiar with the subject of our study first. So let's dive deeper into what we will learn about in this course.

Arrays and lists serve as foundational data structures in programming, with Python employing them extensively. This section provides an overview of these structures, delving into their concepts and highlighting their implementation nuances within the Python programming language.

There are many applied tasks in which it is necessary to operate with large amounts of structured data and simple data structures such as an array or a linked list may no longer be enough for these purposes. In this section, we'll look at the concept of an abstract data type and how different ADTs allow us to efficiently manage large amounts of data.

In the real world, one often has to deal with tasks in which it is necessary to model complex dependencies between various nodes of a system or domain. Graphs can help us with this. In this section, we will learn what a graph is and how to represent it in computer memory efficiently.

Algorithms and Data Structures Overview

Why Do We Need Data Structures?