When programmers talk about "data structures", are they only talking about abstract data types like Lists, Trees, Hashes, Graphs, etc?
Or does that term include any structure that holds data, such as composite types (class objects, structs, enums, etc) and primitive types (boolean, int, char, e...
It was an honest question, sparked by our contest tag. I wasn't sure if questions about classes or primitive data types could be considered [data-structure] tagged questions or not
This question on terminology was asked earlier.
Should the "General Reference" close reason as outlined in this blog post and this Meta Stack Overflow answer be enabled here on Programmers?
Are there any other questions that would fit this bill, or was this just a one-off that we can live with?...
Programmers - Stack Exchange is for expert programmers who are
interested in conceptual questions on software development.
Can we consider removing the word "expert" from our site description?
I've seen a few meta question that quote our FAQ description, and I feel it gives the wrong impr...
"Primitive" completely depends on scope. At the binary level there is no such thing as an int, for example. At an even lower level there aren't even bits - just electrical bias. Again, this is a self defining term - not a good question at all. — Michael K4 mins ago
It seems that the word "expert" is used a lot in the descriptions Stack Exchange sites.
But in searching I can't really find anything canonical about this.
Is Stack Exchange supposed to be just for experts, or mainly for experts, or is that up to the individual sites and not something really se...
I think its important to know if programmers talking about data structures are only referring to abstract data types, or if they are also referring to primititive data types or composite data types
The reason you don't find many primitive data types questions on Programmers, is because those questions are usually trivial, and their answers are easily found with a simple web search.
@Rachel Perhaps it should be, I don't know. But it doesn't seem like SE is a good platform for history - that's what Wikipedia and blogs(essays and research articles) are for.
@MichaelK If you can find the answer with a simple web search or on wikipedia, it's trivial.
@Rachel That would be a valid question if you had some references to back up the typically programmers refer to data structures as something else claim
I think I found my answer though. Data Structures refers to both a broad term used to cover the items listed on wikipedia, but also a specific term for abstract data structures. Typically when programmers are talking about data structures, they're talking about the more specific term
@YannisRizos So leave the question be. It probably won't win anything since its asked later in the week and there are other good questions with higher scores out there
You shouldn't be closing questions just because you don't like them
or don't like the person posting, and it's a contest week
Once again, please explain to me why this is trivial? Like I said, software terminology is on-topic and the answer is not as simple as you would expect
@maple_shaft But software terminlogy is on-topic, and the "quick google search" returned a result that isn't usually what programmers are talking about when they talk about data structures
Come on we've been explaining this to you for more than half an hour. All you've offered so far in the discussion is that I'm discriminating against you. Wasted my time yet again...
@Rachel sorry we couldn't come to an understanding, but I have to move on. Anytime you have any questions you are unsure about asking then tag me in the Whiteboard and I can try to help.
@YannisRizos I see two issues you have identified with it: 1) that it is too trivial, but you won't tell me WHY it's trivial, and 2) its a common-knowledge question, which I disagree with because the "common knowledge" definition happens to be different from what the actual "common-knowledge" usage is
Software terminology is on-topic here, however my question When programmers talk about "data structures", what are they referring to? got closed as "not a real question"
The question was asked because when looking up the exact definition of a data structure, I noticed that wikipedia provides a l...
@Rachel I did down vote. As did others. And look, I'm not the only one saying the question is bad, for exactly the same reasons I wrote in my very first comment to the question.
As phrased this is polling for opinions, and it's borderline "not constructive". If you are asking for what a data structure is, then you need to tell us why the Wikipedia article doesn't answer your question, if you are asking for a list of data structures programmers consider data structures I'll have to close this. Why primitive data types are considered data structures (or not) might be a better version of your question (if not answered on Wikipedia). — Yannis Rizos3 hours ago
If only you have bothered to listen, and improve the question, instead of wasting everyone's time yet again...
@YannisRizos I've made some edits to the question to clarify I am trying to figure out if programmers have a different definition for the term than the dictionary definition, and cited my own experience with developers using the term and some online references to back up the claim
This question on terminology was asked earlier.
Should the "General Reference" close reason as outlined in this blog post and this Meta Stack Overflow answer be enabled here on Programmers?
Are there any other questions that would fit this bill, or was this just a one-off that we can live with?...
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