Linear Structures

Summary: We consider the essential features of a class of abstract data types known as linear structures. Linear structures permit you to collect information and retrieve one piece of information at a time.

Contents:

Introduction: Collections

As you may have learned earlier, computer scientists regularly design, analyze, and implement mechanisms for collecting information. Why do we have more than one general “Collection” data type? Because it turns out that we can often make the implementation more efficient if we focus on certain operations. (More precisely, we can make the implementation of those operations more efficient if we focus on those operations.)

You have probably already encountered a variety of collections in your computer science, mathematics, or even “real world” education. For example, a set collects values and provides one central operation of membership. In contrast, a list, such as a list of students in a class, collects values and provides a central operation of visiting each value in the list in turn. And an array or vector organizes values with an integer index. Over the next few readings and labs, we will consider a variety of collections and their implementations.

Linear Structures

Among the simplest collections we encounter are the so-called linear structures. Linear structures are collections that let you add elements to and remove elements from, one at a time. You can think of a to-do list or a job jar as kinds of linear structures: As you come up with new tasks, you add them to the list or jar. When you have time to undertake a new task, you grab one from the list or jar.

Linear structures therefore provide two central operations:

put(T value), which adds an object to the structure.
T get(), which removes and returns one object from the structure.

You may be asking yourself (or the page, or the computer screen, or your professor) what determines which object get() returns. In the most generic form of linear structure, the particular object returned by get is not specified. However, we do build a variety of kinds of linear structures, each with its own policy for specifying which object get returns.

Stacks return objects using a last-in, first-out policy. That is, get removes and returns the object that has been most recently added to the stack. We can use stacks to model the typical set of plates in a cafeteria or the calling structure of a program at run time.
Queues return objects using a first-in, first-out policy. That is, get removes and returns the object that has been least recently added to the stack. We can use queues to model the line at at grocery store or to keep track of actions that must be done in order.
Priority Queues return objects based on some ordering. In this case, the get operation removes and returns the object of highest priority. As you may have learned, in Java, we typically specify the priority using the compareTo operation or a separate object that implements Comparator. Priority queus are a great way to implement to-do lists.
Randomized Linear Structures return objects “randomly”. In this case, it should be difficult to predict which value the structure will return.

We will visit more details about these structures, particularly implementations, over the next few readings and labs.

Additional Operations

So far, we've only specified two operations for linear structures. Are there others we might want or expect them to provide? Certainly.

One principle many designers employ is that any precondition that a client must meet must also have a mechanism for checking that precondition. Since it is a bad idea to try to get a value from an empty structure, clients probably need access to an isEmpty predicate.

Experience also suggests that there are times in which it is useful to check what value get will return, but not to remove that value. (Note that while we can remove and re-add the value in a stack or priority queue, if we remove and re-add it in a queue, it moves to the end.) For such situations, many designers of linear structures include a peek operation.

Some designers prefer as much symmatry in their structures as they can provide. Others worry about implementation and note that we will eventually run out of room as we add values to a collection. Both classes of designers provide an isFull method.

Some designers like to add functionality by permitting clients to determine how many values are in the structure. Others note that determining the size of a linear structure is not central to the mission of linear stuctures and do without it. In the interests of minimalism, we follow the latter strategy.

Finally, as responsible Java programmers who are collecting values, we should provide an iterator method.

A Linear Structure Interface

We have considered the primary purpose of linear structures (to collect values and then to extract them one at a time) and the key methods one provides for linear structures (put, get, isEmpty, and peek). We are now ready to put everything together into a Java interface that specifies the details.

package taojava.util;

import java.util.Iterator;

/**
 * Simple linear structures, which let you add and remove items one 
 * at a time.
 *
 * @author Samuel A. Rebelsky
 */
public interface LinearStructure<T>
    extends Iterable<T>
{
  /**
   * Add an element to the structure.
   *
   * @param val
   *   the value to add.
   * @pre
   *   !this.isFull()
   * @post
   *   The element has been added to the structure.  At some point,
   *   a call to get() will remove the element.
   * @exception Exception
   *   If the structure is full.
   */
  public void put(T val)
    throws Exception;

  /**
   * Remove an element from the structure according to the underlying
   * policy.
   *
   * @return
   *   val, a value.
   * @pre
   *   !this.isEmpty()
   * @post
   *   The structure contains one fewer copy of val.
   * @exception Exception
   *   If the structure is empty.
   */
  public T get()
    throws Exception;

  /**
   * Determine what element will next be removed by get.
   *
   * @return
   *   val, a value.
   * @pre
   *   !this.isEmpty()
   * @post
   *   The next call to this.get() returns val.
   * @exception Exception
   *   If the structure is empty.
   */
  public T peek()
    throws Exception;

  /**
   * Determine if the structure is empty.
   */
  public boolean isEmpty();

  /**
   * Determine if the structure is full.
   */
  public boolean isFull();

  /**
   * Get an iterator that returns all of the elements in some order.
   */
  public Iterator<T> iterator();
} // interface LinearStructure

Citations

This reading is based on a reading I originally wrote for Espresso.