We can categorize data structures in to two different groups:

• Linear data structures
• Nonlinear data structures

In linear data structures, items are structured in a linear or sequential manner. Array, list, stack, and queue are examples of linear structures. In nonlinear structures, data are not structured in a sequential way. Graph and tree are the most common examples of nonlinear data structures.

Let us now explore the world of data structures, with different types of data structures and their purposes in a summarized way. Later on, we will explore each of the data structures in details.

There are many different types of data structures that exist in the programming world. Out of them, following are the most used ones:

• Struct
• Array
• Linked list
• Doubly linked list
• Stack
• Queue
• Priority queue
• Set
• Map
• Tree
• Graph
• Heap