Aspects of Data Representation in Programming
Data representation covers multiple aspects, including how data is stored, manipulated, and transmitted. Below is a structured breakdown of key aspects:
1. Numeric Data Representation
A. Integer Representation
- Unsigned integers (only positive values)
- Signed integers (Two’s complement, Sign-Magnitude, One’s complement)
- BCD (Binary-Coded Decimal) Representation
B. Floating-Point Representation
- IEEE 754 Standard (Single & Double Precision)
- Fixed-Point Representation (for embedded systems)
- Denormalized and Normalized numbers
- Precision errors in floating-point arithmetic
2. Character and Text Representation
- ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
- Extended ASCII (8-bit encoding)
- Unicode (UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-32)
- EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code)
- Character encoding and its impact on text processing
3. Boolean Data Representation
- Boolean values (0 and 1)
- Boolean logic operations (AND, OR, NOT, XOR)
- Boolean representation in memory (1-bit vs. byte alignment)
4. Complex Data Structure Representation
A. Arrays
- One-dimensional and Multi-dimensional arrays
- Row-major vs. Column-major ordering
- Memory alignment of array elements
B. Linked Lists
- Singly Linked Lists (Node-based representation)
- Doubly Linked Lists
- Circular Linked Lists
- Memory representation of linked structures
C. Stacks and Queues
- Array-based vs. Linked List-based implementation
- LIFO (Last-In-First-Out) and FIFO (First-In-First-Out) storage
D. Hash Tables and Hashing Techniques
- Direct Addressing vs. Hashing
- Collision Handling (Chaining, Open Addressing)
- Hash Functions and their role in data retrieval efficiency
5. Data Storage and File Representation
A. Data Storage Units
- Bits, Bytes, Kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes, etc.
- Memory addressing and endianness (Big-endian vs. Little-endian)
B. File Formats and Data Exchange
- Text-Based Formats: JSON, XML, CSV, YAML
- Binary Formats: Images (JPEG, PNG), Audio (MP3, WAV), Video (MP4, AVI)
- Compression (Lossless vs. Lossy formats)
- Serialization (Object-to-binary conversion in Java/Python/other languages)
6. Data Compression Techniques
A. Lossless Compression (No data loss)
- Huffman Coding
- Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW)
- Run-Length Encoding (RLE)
B. Lossy Compression (Data loss occurs for efficiency)
- JPEG (Image compression)
- MP3 (Audio compression)
- MPEG (Video compression)
7. Bitwise Operations and Optimization
- Bitwise AND, OR, XOR, NOT, Shift operations
- Masking and Flag Operations
- Using bitwise operations for performance optimization
- Memory-efficient data storage using bit fields
8. Memory Representation and Management
- Stack vs. Heap memory allocation
- Garbage Collection in High-Level Languages
- Virtual Memory and Paging
- Data Alignment and Padding in Structs and Classes