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DSA isn't a Rocket Science

Updated: Jan 20, 2023

The topic "DSA" is not Rocket Science but can do revolutionary things when implemented properly.


To learn DSA you need to first understand the following things


  • Understand how programs use computer memory to store data OR how computer memory stores data.

  • Start with Array, just array; not any programming-specific perspective, just understand what array looks like; for example: ceoOfMNCs = ['Elon Musk', 'Tim Cook', 'Sundar Pichai']

  • OR it's a simple list of CEOs of MNCs having Elon Musk, Tim Cook, & Sundar Pichai as three data elements.

  • Understand 4 basic operations of any data structure: Read, Search, Insert, Delete & understand how they relate to Computer Memory.

  • Don't jump to the Big O Notation thing directly.


Let's understand Array 101 with our ceoOfMNCs example array:


  • the foundational Data Structure and a list of elements.

  • the counts of the elements in the array begin with 0; So, for our example array ceoOfMNCs, the elements "Elon Musk" is at index 0, "Tim Cook" is at 1 & "Sundar Pichai" is at 2.

  • index of an array is the number that identifies where a piece of data lives inside the array.


PRO-gramming Tips


Understand

  • basics of programming like conditions, variables, loops, etc. (not any specific language, just concepts)

  • what arguments you're taking as input parameters?

  • what type and data you're returning?

  • steps / algo to perform operations or solve a problem.

  • each step & statement like printing the value, comparison, etc. & debugging so that you can seriously understand what's going on in the code you're writing

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