List of data structures - Definition and Overview

This is a list of data structures. For a wider list of terms, see list of terms relating to algorithms and data structures.

• Linear data structures
  • List
    • Array
      • Bitmaps
        • Images
        • Heightfields
      • Parallel array
    • Linked list
      • Skip list
      • Xor linked list
    • VList
    • Associative array
  • Hash table (also known as a "map", "dictionary" or "associative array")
  • Stack (a.k.a LIFO Last in, first out)
  • Queue (a.k.a FIFO First in, first out)
    • Priority queue - sometimes implemented as a Heap, below
  • Deque
  • Buffer gap
• Graph data structures
  • Adjacency list
  • Disjoint-set data structure
  • Graph-structured stack
  • Scene graph
  • Tree data structures
    • M-Way Tree
      • B-tree
    • Binary search trees
      • Self-balancing binary search trees
        • AVL tree
        • Red-black tree
        • Splay tree
        • van Emde Boas tree
      • Radix tree
    • Heap
      • Binary heap
      • Binomial heap
      • Fibonacci heap
      • 2-3 heap
      • Soft heap
    • Parse tree
    • Quadtree and Octree
    • Suffix tree
    • Trie
      • Patricia trie
• Other data structures
  • Tagged union
  • Union
  • Frame
  • Database and "table"

An attempt to classify some of these based on feature attributes:

"Ordered" does not mean sorted, only that input order is "retained". Other structures such as "linked list" and "stack" cannot easily be defined this way because there are specific operations associated with them.