THE
CHEAT SHEET
FOR PYTHON
DATA STRUCTURES
THE
CHEAT SHEET
FOR PYTHON
DATA STRUCTURES
Python Data
Structures
Built-in User-defined
Data Structures Data Structures
Lists Tuple Stack Tree Graphs
Dictionary Set Queue Linked List Hash Map
Lists
for storing multiple items
in a single variable
Changeable
the data can be removed, added, or changed
Ordered
the data order is defined and unchanged
Duplicates
it can contain data of the same values
Dictionary
for storing values in the
key-value pairs
Changeable
the data can be removed, added, or changed
Ordered
the data order is defined and unchanged
No Duplicates
it can't contain data of the same values
Set
for storing multiple items
in a single variable
Unchangeable
the data can't be removed, added, or
changed after creating the set
Unordered
the data order is not defined and will change Tuple
with every use of the list
for storing multiple items
No Duplicates in a single variable
it can’t contain data of the same values
Unchangeable
the data can't be removed, added, or
changed after creating the set
Ordered
the data order is defined
and unchanged
Duplicates
it can contain data of the same values
Stack
for storing and retrieving data sequentially,
e.g., as temporary storage of data within procedures
Linear data structure
data is arranged in a linear manner where every new element is
linked to the previous and/or next element
Last In-First Out (LIFO) or First In-Last Out (FILO) method
adding a new element to one end and deleting it from the same end
Queue
for storing and retrieving data sequentially,
e.g., as a control of access to shared resources
Linear data structure
data is arranged in a linear manner where every new element is
linked to the previous and/or next element
First In-First Out (FIFO) method
adding a new element to one end and deleting the element
from the other end (the least recent element)
(Binary) Tree
for storing and retrieving hierarchical data,
e.g., the organizational structure of a company
Hierarchical data structure
data is arranged hierarchically with data represented with nodes and
children nodes, with each node holding a reference to every child node
Two children
each node has a maximum of two children (left and right)
Node reference ≥ right child node
a reference stored in the node is always equal to or greater than
the reference stored in the left child node
Node reference ≤ left child node
a reference stored in the node is always equal to or less than
the reference stored in the right child node
Linked List
for storing and retrieving data sequentially in the form of nodes that contain
its data and the address of the following node, e.g., dynamic memory allocation
Linear data structure
data is arranged in a linear manner where data is linked by pointers
Randomness
nodes are stored randomly in the memory
Hash Map
for storing the data through the key-value pair and making data
insertion, deletion, update, and retrieval quicker
Indexed data structure
maps the element's key or index value and calculates it using the hash function
Key-value pair
assigns each element a key-value pair
Graph
for storing and retrieving data sequentially in the form of nodes that contain
its data and the address of the following node, e.g., dynamic memory allocation
Linear data structure
data is arranged in a linear manner where data is linked by pointers
Randomness
nodes are stored randomly in the memory
Gives a descriptive name to each position in the tuple
namedtuple()
and is used for accessing values instead of indices.
A double-ended queue where elements can be added
deque
or removed from both left and right sides.
ChainMap Groups multiple dictionaries and other mappings
to create a single updateable view.
A dictionary subclass that counts hashable objects
Counter storing them as keys andcounting them as values.
OrderedDict A dictionary subclass that keeps the order
in which the items are inserted into the dictionary.
defaultdict A dictionary subclass for assigning each new key with
a default value based on the dictionary type.
A class that simulates the dictionary and
UserDict simplifies dictionary subclassing.
A class that simulates the list and simplifies
UserList
list subclassing.
UserString A class that simulates the string
and simplifies string subclassing.
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