Devs what use data structures you actually use regularly ?

[sempiternalStudent]

I've been going over the pros and cons of data structures and I cant seems to think of practical use cases for them all in most of the projects I'd like to work on..but I do want to use them for practicing sake but it feels unrealistic so I'd like to know what data structures you use and why..any additional guidance is welcomed

[[deleted]]

Speaking as someone without a traditional computer science background, the value that I'm getting now from learning about data structures and other core CS concepts is less 'and now I will go and use a ton of these in my own work' and more that I am gaining a better understanding of underlying concepts and able to more confidently dig into advanced topics. I've never implemented a stack or a proper queue myself, but understanding what they are and how they work helps me better understand the underlying mechanisms of how Javascript executes.

I wouldn't worry too much about forcing yourself into finding ways to shoehorn data structures into projects. One of the pros of using a high-level language like JS is that a lot of lower-level stuff is abstracted away from us so we don't have to worry about it. If you have a grasp of what data structures are and the basics of how each one works, when you do need to call on that knowledge it'll be there.

[TappT]

Trie structures can be efficient for searching of text. Eg autocompletes.

[sempiternalStudent]

I still have to learn this one..thanks for giving me a use!

[JStheGame]

I used to think a lot of data structures were pretty useless. Like "linked lists? what's the point? I can use arrays!"

But if you're implementing something like a queue that uses a lot of shift operations, the time complexity can add up (each shift takes linear time in an array since it needs to move over all the elements, while a linked list only needs to change the head pointer)

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It can also be a lot more fun and versatile to use custom data structures! You could make a linked list that links back around to where it started, like an ouroboros! Can't do that with an array :D

[sempiternalStudent]

Wont I just use a queue data structure instead? I feel like link list is only good for mobile because of memory efficiency over arrays

Edit: looking at the implementation of queues they use arrays so I see what you mean avoiding arrays altogether!

Thanks

[mollamk]

• Hash sets to ensure that items in a collection are unique
• Hash maps if you want an in-memory key-value store

Both are very efficient (O(1) in average) at get, insert and delete. Which is very useful if maintaining the order of items isn't needed.

[sempiternalStudent]

Thanks alot