Data Type vs Data Structure
Data Types
A data type specifies the type of
data that a variable can store such as integer, floating, character, etc.
There are the following data types
in C language.
|
Types |
Data Types |
|
Basic Data Type |
int, char, float,
double |
|
Derived Data Type |
array, pointer,
structure, union |
|
Enumeration Data
Type |
enum |
|
Void Data Type |
void |
Basic Data Types
The basic data types are
integer-based and floating-point based. C language supports both signed and
unsigned literals.
The memory size of the basic data
types may change according to 32 or 64-bit operating system.
Let's see the basic data types. Its
size is given according to 32-bit architecture.
|
Data Types |
Memory Size |
Range |
|
char |
1 byte |
−128 to 127 |
|
signed char |
1 byte |
−128 to 127 |
|
unsigned char |
1 byte |
0 to 255 |
|
short |
2 byte |
−32,768 to 32,767 |
|
signed short |
2 byte |
−32,768 to 32,767 |
|
unsigned short |
2 byte |
0 to 65,535 |
|
int |
2 byte |
−32,768 to 32,767 |
|
signed int |
2 byte |
−32,768 to 32,767 |
|
unsigned int |
2 byte |
0 to 65,535 |
|
short int |
2 byte |
−32,768 to 32,767 |
|
signed short int |
2 byte |
−32,768 to 32,767 |
|
unsigned short int |
2 byte |
0 to 65,535 |
|
long int |
4 byte |
-2,147,483,648 to
2,147,483,647 |
|
signed long int |
4 byte |
-2,147,483,648 to
2,147,483,647 |
|
unsigned long int |
4 byte |
0 to 4,294,967,295 |
|
float |
4 byte |
|
|
double |
8 byte |
|
|
long double |
10 byte |
Data
Structure
Data Structure can be defined as
the group of data elements which provides an efficient way of storing and
organising data in the computer so that it can be used efficiently. Some
examples of Data Structures are arrays, Linked List, Stack, Queue, etc. Data
Structures are widely used in almost every aspect of Computer Science i.e.
Operating System, Compiler Design, Artifical intelligence, Graphics and many
more.
Data Structures are the main part of many computer science algorithms as they enable the programmers to handle the data in an efficient way. It plays a vital role in enhancing the performance of a software or a program as the main function of the software is to store and retrieve the user's data as fast as possible.
Typical base data
types, such as integers or floating-point values, that are available in most
computer programming languages are generally insufficient to capture the logical
intent for data processing and use. Yet applications that ingest, manipulate
and produce information must understand how data should be organized to
simplify processing. Data structures bring together the data elements in a
logical way and facilitate the effective use, persistence and sharing of data.
They provide a formal model that describes the way the data elements are
organized.
Data structures are
the building blocks for more sophisticated applications. They are designed
by composing data elements into a logical unit representing an abstract data
type that has relevance to the algorithm or application. An example of an
abstract data type is a "customer name" that is composed of the
character strings for "first name," "middle name" and
"last name."
It is not only
important to use data structures, but it is also important to choose the proper
data structure for each task. Choosing an ill-suited data structure could
result in slow runtimes or unresponsive code. Five factors to
consider when picking a data structure include the following:
- What kind of information will be
stored?
- How will that information be used?
- Where should data persist, or be
kept, after it is created?
- What is the best way to organize
the data?
- What aspects of memory and storage reservation management should be considered?
In general both data type
and data structure seems to be the same thing as both deals with the nature and
organizing of data but among two one describes the type and nature of data while
other represents the collections in which that data can be stored.
Following are the important differences between Data Type and Data Structure
| Data Type | Data Structures |
|---|---|
| It tells about the type of data a variable can accept. | It is a collection of data types |
| Data Types implementation is a form of abstract implementation where different languages define it differently. | Data Structures implementation is called concrete implementation as their definition is already defined by the language that what type of data they are going to store and deal with. |
| Data Types can only hold a particular value that is part of the data | Data Structure can have different kinds and types of data within one single object |
| Values can directly be assigned to the data type variables since data type already represents the type of value that can be stored | The data is assigned to the data structure object using some set of algorithms and operations like push, pop, and so on. |
| For Data Types, there is no involvement of time complexity since only type and nature of data is concern | Time complexity comes into play when working with data structures as it mainly deals with manipulation and execution of logic over stored data. |
| Examples: int, float, double | Examples: stacks, queues, tree |