Abstract data type in the context of Client (computing)

In computer science, a tree is a widely used abstract data type that represents a hierarchical tree structure with a set of connected nodes. Each node in the tree can be connected to many children (depending on the type of tree), but must be connected to exactly one parent, except for the root node, which has no parent (i.e., the root node as the top-most node in the tree hierarchy). These constraints mean there are no cycles or "loops" (no node can be its own ancestor), and also that each child can be treated like the root node of its own subtree, making recursion a useful technique for tree traversal. In contrast to linear data structures, many trees cannot be represented by relationships between neighboring nodes (parent and children nodes of a node under consideration, if they exist) in a single straight line (called edge or link between two adjacent nodes).

Binary trees are a commonly used type, which constrain the number of children for each parent to at most two. When the order of the children is specified, this data structure corresponds to an ordered tree in graph theory. A value or pointer to other data may be associated with every node in the tree, or sometimes only with the leaf nodes, which have no children nodes.

In computer science, a hash table is a data structure that implements an associative array, also called a dictionary or simply map; an associative array is an abstract data type that maps keys to values. A hash table uses a hash function to compute an index, also called a hash code, into an array of buckets or slots, from which the desired value can be found. During lookup, the key is hashed and the resulting hash indicates where the corresponding value is stored. A map implemented by a hash table is called a hash map.

Most hash table designs employ an imperfect hash function. Hash collisions, where the hash function generates the same index for more than one key, therefore typically must be accommodated in some way. Common strategies to handle hash collisions include chaining, which stores multiple elements in the same slot using linked lists, and open addressing, which searches for the next available slot according to a probing sequence.

In software, an abstraction provides access while hiding details that otherwise might make access more challenging. It focuses attention on details of greater importance. Examples include the abstract data type which separates use from the representation of data and functions that form a call tree that is more general at the base and more specific towards the leaves.

In computer programming, a collection is an abstract data type that is a grouping of items that can be used in a polymorphic way.

Often, the items are of the same data type such as int or string. Sometimes the items derive from a common type; even deriving from the most general type of a programming language such as object or variant.

In computer science, an associative array, key-value store, map, symbol table, or dictionary is an abstract data type that stores a collection of key/value pairs, such that each possible key appears at most once in the collection. In mathematical terms, an associative array is a function with finite domain. It supports 'lookup', 'remove', and 'insert' operations.

The dictionary problem is the classic problem of designing efficient data structures that implement associative arrays.The two major solutions to the dictionary problem are hash tables and search trees.It is sometimes also possible to solve the problem using directly addressed arrays, binary search trees, or other more specialized structures.

In computer programming, a reference is a value that enables a program to indirectly access a particular datum, such as a variable's value or a record, in the computer's memory or in some other storage device. The reference is said to refer to the datum, and accessing the datum is called dereferencing the reference. A reference is distinct from the datum itself.

A reference is an abstract data type and may be implemented in many ways. Typically, a reference refers to data stored in memory on a given system, and its internal value is the memory address of the data, i.e. a reference is implemented as a pointer. For this reason a reference is often said to "point to" the data. Other implementations include an offset (difference) between the datum's address and some fixed "base" address, an index, or identifier used in a lookup operation into an array or table, an operating system handle, a physical address on a storage device, or a network address such as a URL.

In computer science, a stack is an abstract data type that serves as a collection of elements with two main operations:

• Push, which adds an element to the collection, and
• Pop, which removes the most recently added element.

Additionally, a peek operation can, without modifying the stack, return the value of the last element added (the item at the top of the stack). The name stack is an analogy to a set of physical items stacked one atop another, such as a stack of plates.

In computer science, a semaphore is a variable or abstract data type used to control access to a common resource by multiple threads and avoid critical section problems in a concurrent system such as a multitasking operating system. Semaphores are a type of synchronization primitive. A trivial semaphore is a plain variable that is changed (for example, incremented or decremented, or toggled) depending on programmer-defined conditions.

A useful way to think of a semaphore as used in a real-world system is as a record of how many units of a particular resource are available, coupled with operations to adjust that record safely (i.e., to avoid race conditions) as units are acquired or become free, and, if necessary, wait until a unit of the resource becomes available.

In computer science, a graph is an abstract data type that is meant to implement the undirected graph and directed graph concepts from the field of graph theory within mathematics.

A graph data structure consists of a finite (and possibly mutable) set of vertices (also called nodes or points), together with a set of unordered pairs of these vertices for an undirected graph or a set of ordered pairs for a directed graph. These pairs are known as edges (also called links or lines), and for a directed graph are also known as edges but also sometimes arrows or arcs. The vertices may be part of the graph structure, or may be external entities represented by integer indices or references.