Preface

A knowledge of data structures and the algorithms that bring them to life is the key to building successful data applications. With this knowledge, we have a powerful way to unlock the secrets buried in large amounts of data. This skill is becoming more important in a data-saturated world, where the amount of data being produced dwarfs our ability to analyze it.  In this book, you will learn the essential Python data structures and the most common algorithms. This book will provide basic knowledge of Python and an insight into the exciting world of data algorithms. We will look at algorithms that provide solutions to the most common problems in data analysis, including sorting and searching data, as well as being able to extract important statistics from data. With this easy-to-read book, you will learn how to create complex data structures such as linked lists, stacks, and queues, as well as sorting algorithms such as bubble sort and insertion sort. You will learn the common techniques and structures used in tasks such as preprocessing, modeling, and transforming data. We will also discuss how to organize your code in a manageable, consistent, and extendable way. You will learn how to build components that are easy to understand, debug, and use in different applications.

A good understanding of data structures and algorithms cannot be overemphasized. It is an important arsenal to have in being able to understand new problems and find elegant solutions to them. By gaining a deeper understanding of algorithms and data structures, you may find uses for them in many more ways than originally intended. You will develop a consideration for the code you write and how it affects the amount of memory and CPU cycles to say the least. Code will not be written for the sake of it, but rather with a mindset to do more using minimal resources. When programs that have been thoroughly analyzed and scrutinized are used in a real-life setting, the performance is a delight to experience. Sloppy code is always a recipe for poor performance. Whether you like algorithms purely from the standpoint of them being an intellectual exercise or them serving as a source of inspiration in solving a problem, it is an engagement worthy of pursuit.

The Python language has further opened the door for many professionals and students to come to appreciate programming. The language is fun to work with and concise in its description of problems. We leverage the language's mass appeal to examine a number of widely studied and standardized data structures and algorithms.

The book begins with a concise tour of the Python programming language. As such, it is not required that you know Python before picking up this book.