Introduction to ADT
Data types are used to define or classify the type of values a variable can store in it. Moreover, it also describes the possible operations allowed on those values. For example, the integer data type can store an integer value. Possible operations on an integer include addition, subtraction, multiplication, modulo.
Abstract data type (ADT) is a concept or model of a data type. Because of ADT, a user doesn’t have to bother about how that data type has been implemented. Moreover, ADT also takes care of the implementation of the functions on a data type. Here, the user will have predefined functions on each data type ready to use for any operation.
Generally, in ADT, a user knows what to do without disclosing how to do it. These kinds of models are defined in terms of their data items and associated operations.
In every programming language, we implement ADTs using different methods and logic. Although, we can still perform all the associated operations which are defined for that ADT irrespective of language. For example, in C, ADTs are implemented mostly using structure. On the other hand, in C++ or JAVA, they’re implemented using class. However, operations are common in all languages.
ADTs are a popular and important data type. Generally, ADTs are mathematical or logical concepts that can be implemented on different machines using different languages. Furthermore, they’re very flexible and don’t dependent on languages or machines.
There are mainly three types of ADTs:
