[slimsaint]

This is not a programming problem. instead, it bother around linear data structures. i am writing a term paper on the different data structures, but i would like to know the recent challenges facing the linear data structures i.e.: arrays, linked lists, stacks and queues.

This post has been edited by slimsaint: 18 May 2011 - 01:31 PM

[RevTorA]

Okay, you're asking on a public forum for information that you're going to use in a term paper? How are you going to cite your sources? I'd like to see that one.

I give this 10 minutes before it's removed.

[slimsaint]

RevTorA, on 18 May 2011 - 01:30 PM, said:

Okay, you're asking on a public forum for information that you're going to use in a term paper? How are you going to cite your sources? I'd like to see that one.

I give this 10 minutes before it's removed.

Please i am actually being sincere on my purpose here. i only need ideas in everyday english on the most recent issues/ chalenges posed by linear data structures. what crime have i commited for my post to be truncated

[muballitmitte]

it can be cited it as a personal communication

This post has been edited by muballitmitte: 18 May 2011 - 01:42 PM

[RevTorA]

muballitmitte, on 18 May 2011 - 01:37 PM, said:

it can be cited it as a personal communication

Ah, then I beg your pardon. I still don't see a forum post being an okay source for a term paper, but I guess it could count as an expert interview?

[muballitmitte]

Well actually a friend of mine recently published a paper in which he cited a forum discussion as a personal communication.

::edited for posterity::
Not saying that this is a general thing and always possible as it of course depends on many things. But his argument was simple: the guy made some excellent points that were strangely not covered in the literature so he asked if the guy was ok with him citing it. Still an acknowledgment would have been sufficient and more common.

This post has been edited by muballitmitte: 18 May 2011 - 02:08 PM

[slimsaint]

i understand what u are trying to say. but i think all i need is your personal views on the subject. it would serve as a guide and an eye-opener to me. thank you

[RevTorA]

muballitmitte, on 18 May 2011 - 01:46 PM, said:

Well actually a friend of mine recently published a paper in which he cited a forum discussion as a personal communication.

I'll keep that in mind if I ever want to cite a forum then

Sorry if I was being an ass, I'll leave this thread be now X(

[NickDMax]

Well giving someone an idea of where to start looking for information does not require them to use you as as "source".

Quote

i would like to know the recent challenges facing the linear data structures

It is however difficult to think of any "recent challenges". Its not like Arrays and Stacks make the news very often. As far as I know their "challenges" are pretty well known and don't really change much.

Array's used to have difficulty with memory size -- but recent years have seen computers with large amounts of RAM and access to "near-limitless" amounts of virtual memory so... well I would say that allocating a large contiguous block of memory is less trouble in recent times than it was in the past.

Quote

the most recent issues/challenges posed by linear data structures.

Although the wording here is a little more tractable it is still a tough question. The liner structures have always had their strengths and weaknesses - however if anything these weaknesses have been ameliorated by modern computing rather than exacerbated.

I can think of one "recent" issue: 64bit computing. Most of our data comes in the form of low value/low entropy and only requires a few bits. A 16bit word could hold 65536 different states which is often more than enough. For example a char is generally only 8bits.

However having a 64bit buss means that the processor is at its best(fastest) when it is grabbing data in 64bit chunks. However if you use 64bit words to represent chars than for each char you are wasting 7 bytes. Also your data is 8 times larger than it needs to be. This is one reason why even though historically an int has always been the word size of the machine, in most 64bit environments an int is still only 32bits -- because mostly ints are used for doing dumb things like counting to 10 etc.

So a modern challenge of using any data structure such as an array is that there is often a lot of "slack space" or padding.

Not a compelling example but honestly the word "recent" really throws ones thinking off.

[slimsaint]

thank you very much nickdmax. you might not know how much head-way your post has just made for me; i really do appreciate.