Philosophy of Data Structures in Engineering Education

Abstract

The pillars of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) curriculum are Data Structures, Database management systems, languages, operating systems and algorithms. This article explains the relationship and connectivity of these core courses. Authors follow the pedagogy technique to teach the Data Structures (DS) by considering its evolution. The article focus on the method of providing connectivity between the building blocks of DS like Data Containers, Container Iterators, Algorithms and Functors. Each data structure is explained by considering its property, iterations, problems and applications. The three fold method is followed to teach DS, which includes think, build and discuss phases. The pedagogy techniques practiced by authors are revealed many mysteries, which are not discussed in most of the DS text books.