Data Structures and Algorithms MCQs

Data Structures and Algorithms MCQs:

1. What is the purpose of a data structure in programming?

 A) To store and organize data for efficient access and modification. (Correct
Answer)

 B) To perform mathematical operations.

 C) To print output to the console.

 D) To create loops in the code.

2. Which data structure follows the First In, First Out (FIFO) principle?

 A) Stack

 B) Queue (Correct Answer)

 C) Linked List

 D) Tree

3. What is the time complexity of the binary search algorithm in the worst-case scenario?

 A) O(n)

 B) O(log n) (Correct Answer)

 C) O(n^2)

 D) O(1)

4. Which algorithm is commonly used for sorting a list of elements in ascending or

descending order?

 A) Breadth-First Search

 B) Depth-First Search

 C) QuickSort (Correct Answer)

 D) MergeSort

5. What is the purpose of hash functions in data structures?

 A) To create loops in the code.

 B) To generate random numbers.

 C) To distribute keys uniformly in a hash table. (Correct Answer)

 D) To perform string manipulation.

6. Which data structure is suitable for representing a hierarchical relationship between
elements?

 A) Stack

 B) Queue

 C) Tree (Correct Answer)

 D) Linked List

7. What is the primary advantage of using a linked list over an array?

 A) Constant time access to elements.

 B) Dynamic size and efficient insertions/deletions at any position. (Correct

Answer)

 C) Automatic sorting of elements.

 D) Random access to elements.

8. In graph theory, what is a vertex with no incoming edges called?

 A) Leaf

 B) Root

 C) Sink

 D) Source (Correct Answer)

9. What is the role of a priority queue in algorithms?

 A) To maintain elements in a random order.

 B) To enforce a specific order based on the time of insertion.

 C) To process elements based on their priority. (Correct Answer)

 D) To store elements in a circular manner.

10. Which search algorithm works by repeatedly dividing the search space in half?

 A) Linear Search

 B) Binary Search (Correct Answer)

 C) Depth-First Search

 D) Breadth-First Search

11. What is the purpose of dynamic programming in algorithms?

 A) To efficiently store large datasets.

  B) To divide a problem into smaller subproblems and solve each subproblem
only once, storing the solutions for future use. (Correct Answer)

 C) To perform calculations on floating-point numbers.

 D) To allocate memory for variables dynamically.

12. In the context of graph algorithms, what is a cycle in a graph?

 A) A path connecting two vertices.

 B) A sequence of vertices and edges that begins and ends at the same vertex.
(Correct Answer)

 C) The longest path between two vertices.

 D) A disconnected subgraph.

13. Which sorting algorithm has a time complexity of O(n log n) in the average and worst-
case scenarios?

 A) Bubble Sort

 B) Insertion Sort

 C) MergeSort (Correct Answer)

 D) Selection Sort

14. What is the purpose of the "heap" data structure in algorithms?

 A) To store elements in sorted order.

 B) To implement a priority queue. (Correct Answer)

 C) To perform quick insertions and deletions.

 D) To represent hierarchical relationships.

15. What is the term for the process of converting a higher-level programming language
code into machine code?

 A) Compilation (Correct Answer)

 B) Interpretation

 C) Execution

 D) Debugging

16. Which of the following is a fundamental operation in binary search trees?

 A) Pop

 B) Push
  C) Insert

 D) Rotate (Correct Answer)

17. What is the primary advantage of using a hash table for data storage?

 A) Constant time access to elements.

 B) Automatic sorting of elements.

 C) Efficient search and retrieval operations. (Correct Answer)

 D) Dynamic size and efficient insertions/deletions.

18. In the context of algorithms, what does "recursion" refer to?

 A) A loop that repeats a specific set of instructions.

 B) A function calling itself. (Correct Answer)

 C) The process of searching for a specific element in an array.

 D) A data structure for storing hierarchical relationships.

19. Which data structure is used to implement a stack?

 A) Linked List

 B) Array

 C) Both Linked List and Array (Correct Answer)

 D) Tree

20. What is the primary purpose of the Bellman-Ford algorithm in graph theory?

 A) To find the shortest path between two vertices in a weighted graph.

 B) To detect cycles in a graph.

 C) To determine the minimum spanning tree of a graph.

 D) To find the shortest path between a source vertex and all other vertices in a
weighted graph. (Correct Answer)

21. Which algorithm is used to find the strongly connected components in a directed graph?

 A) Dijkstra's Algorithm

 B) Floyd-Warshall Algorithm

 C) Kosaraju's Algorithm (Correct Answer)

 D) Prim's Algorithm

22. What is the primary purpose of the radix sort algorithm?

  A) To sort integers in ascending order.

 B) To sort elements based on their most significant digit first. (Correct Answer)

 C) To sort elements in descending order.

 D) To sort elements based on their least significant digit first.

23. What is the time complexity of the quicksort algorithm in the average case?

 A) O(n)

 B) O(log n)

 C) O(n^2)

 D) O(n log n) (Correct Answer)

24. In the context of graph algorithms, what is a bipartite graph?

 A) A graph with a single vertex.

 B) A graph with no cycles.

 C) A graph where vertices can be colored with two colors such that no two
adjacent vertices have the same color. (Correct Answer)

 D) A graph with all vertices having the same degree.

25. What is the primary purpose of the Breadth-First Search (BFS) algorithm?

 A) To find the shortest path between two vertices in a weighted graph.

 B) To detect cycles in a graph.

 C) To determine the minimum spanning tree of a graph.

 D) To explore all vertices at the current depth before moving on to the next depth.
(Correct Answer)

26. In the context of algorithms, what is a greedy strategy?

 A) A strategy that always chooses the most promising option at each step.
(Correct Answer)

 B) A strategy that backtracks to explore all possibilities.

 C) A strategy that focuses on minimizing the number of comparisons.

 D) A strategy that relies on dynamic programming.

27. Which of the following is a valid application of the Kruskal's algorithm?

 A) Shortest path finding.

 B) Topological sorting.
  C) Minimum spanning tree construction. (Correct Answer)

 D) Depth-First Search.

28. What is the time complexity of the merge sort algorithm in the worst-case scenario?

 A) O(n)

 B) O(log n)

 C) O(n^2)

 D) O(n log n) (Correct Answer)

29. Which algorithm is used to find the shortest path between all pairs of vertices in a
weighted graph?

 A) Dijkstra's Algorithm

 B) Bellman-Ford Algorithm

 C) Floyd-Warshall Algorithm (Correct Answer)

 D) Kruskal's Algorithm

30. What is the term for a directed acyclic graph used to represent dependencies between
tasks?

 A) Binary Tree

 B) Heap

 C) DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) (Correct Answer)

 D) AVL Tree

31. Which algorithm is used for searching an element in an ordered list by repeatedly
dividing the search range in half?

 A) Linear Search

 B) Binary Search (Correct Answer)

 C) Depth-First Search

 D) Breadth-First Search

32.What is the primary purpose of the A algorithm in pathfinding? *

 A) To find the maximum flow in a network.

 B) To find the shortest path between two vertices in a weighted graph.

 C) To explore all vertices at the current depth before moving on to the next depth.

 D) To find the shortest path in a graph considering both the cost to reach the
 current vertex and an estimate of the cost to reach the goal. (Correct Answer)

33. Which of the following is a valid application of the Depth-First Search (DFS) algorithm?

 A) Shortest path finding.

 B) Topological sorting. (Correct Answer)

 C) Minimum spanning tree construction.

 D) Dijkstra's Algorithm.

34. What is the primary purpose of the topological sort algorithm in graph theory?

 A) To find the shortest path between two vertices in a weighted graph.

 B) To detect cycles in a graph.

 C) To determine the minimum spanning tree of a graph.

 D) To linearly order the vertices in a directed acyclic graph (DAG) respecting their
dependencies. (Correct Answer)

35. Which data structure is commonly used for implementing a cache?

 A) Array

 B) Linked List

 C) Hash Table (Correct Answer)

 D) Stack

36. What is the purpose of the Floyd-Warshall algorithm in graph theory?

 A) To find the shortest path between two vertices in a weighted graph.

 B) To detect cycles in a graph.

 C) To determine the minimum spanning tree of a graph.

 D) To find the shortest path between all pairs of vertices in a weighted graph.
(Correct Answer)

37. What is the time complexity of the bubble sort algorithm in the worst-case scenario?

 A) O(n)

 B) O(log n)

 C) O(n^2) (Correct Answer)

 D) O(1)

38. In the context of algorithms, what is the term for a set of rules that govern the
sequence of steps to solve a problem?
  A) Syntax

 B) Semantics

 C) Algorithm (Correct Answer)

 D) Variable

39. What is the primary purpose of the Rabin-Karp algorithm?

 A) To find the shortest path between two vertices in a weighted graph.

 B) To search for a pattern in a text string. (Correct Answer)

 C) To determine the minimum spanning tree of a graph.

 D) To perform matrix multiplication.

40. What is the term for a collection of nodes where each node points to the next node in
the sequence?

 A) Stack

 B) Queue

 C) Linked List (Correct Answer)

 D) Tree

41. What is the time complexity of the selection sort algorithm in the worst-case scenario?

 A) O(n)

 B) O(log n)

 C) O(n^2) (Correct Answer)

 D) O(1)

42. In the context of algorithms, what is a greedy algorithm?

 A) An algorithm that always chooses the most promising option at each step.
(Correct Answer)

 B) An algorithm that backtracks to explore all possibilities.

 C) An algorithm that focuses on minimizing the number of comparisons.

 D) An algorithm that relies on dynamic programming.

43. What is the purpose of the Shell sort algorithm?

 A) To sort elements in ascending order using a divide-and-conquer strategy.

 B) To sort elements based on their most significant digit first.

  C) To sort elements in ascending order by comparing elements separated by a
fixed gap. (Correct Answer)

 D) To sort elements in descending order using a priority queue.

44. In graph theory, what is the term for the process of visiting all the vertices of a graph
without revisiting any vertex?

 A) Pathfinding

 B) Cycle detection

 C) Traversal

 D) Graph traversal (Correct Answer)

45. What is the primary purpose of the Trie data structure?

 A) To implement a priority queue.

 B) To represent hierarchical relationships.

 C) To perform quick insertions and deletions.

 D) To store and search for strings efficiently. (Correct Answer)

46. Which of the following is a valid application of the BFS algorithm?

 A) Shortest path finding.

 B) Topological sorting.

 C) Connected components identification.

 D) All of the above (Correct Answer)

47. What is the time complexity of the insertion sort algorithm in the worst-case scenario?

 A) O(n)

 B) O(log n)

 C) O(n^2) (Correct Answer)

 D) O(1)