Linear vs Non-Linear: Data Structure

What is Linear Data Structure?

The data structure is said to be linear if the data elements are arranged linearly or we can say sequentially. In the linear data structure, the data elements are connected to its previous and next element and there is only single level involved so we can traverse the elements of it by single run only. We can implement the linear data structure easily because they are arranged in a linear way in computer memory. The linear data structure can’t utilize the memory efficiently because we have to declare the memory in advance while implementing.

The examples of the linear data structure are Array, Linked list, Stack, Queue etc. An array is the collection of elements which are of same data types and the entire array is stored in a contiguous block of memory. Stack and queue contain the data items in special order, i.e., linear and they are work on Last in First Out (LIFO) and First in First Out (FIFO) respectively.

As the elements are stored sequentially, so they can be traversed or accessed in a single run.

What is Non-linear Data Structure?

The data structure is said to be non-linear where the data items or elements of data structure are not arranged sequentially or we can say linearly. The single level is not involved in non-linear data structure as the elements are not stored sequentially, so they can’t be traversed or accessed in a single run. The non-linear data structure is not easy for implementation point of view. They utilize system memory efficiently as compared to linear data structure.

The examples of non-linear data structure are – tree and graph. A hierarchical relationship is contained by the tree data structure. As we said the non-linear data structures are memory efficient because they don’t need the memory declaration in advance.

Difference Between Linear and Non-Linear

BASIS FOR COMPARISON	LINEAR DATA STRUCTURE	NON-LINEAR DATA STRUCTURE
Overview	The data items are arranged in an orderly manner where the elements are attached adjacently.	It arranges the data in a sorted order and there exists a relationship between the data elements.
Types	Arrays, linked list, stack, queue are the types of a linear data structure.	Trees and graphs are the types of a non-linear data structure.
Traversal	As linear data structure is a single level, so it requires a single run to traverse each data item.	The data items in a non-linear data structure which cannot be accessed in a single run. It requires multiple runs to be traversed.
Point of Implementation	Due to the linear organization, they are easy to implement.	Due to the non-linear organization, they are difficult to implement.
Levels involved	This data structure does not contain any hierarchy, and all the data elements are organized in a single level.	In this, the data elements are arranged in multiple levels.
Memory utilization	Ineffective, in linear data Structure, most of the time we have to declare memory in advance.	Effective, in non-linear data structure there is no need to declare memory in advance.
Time complexity	The time complexity of linear data structure increases with the increase in the input size.	The time complexity of non-linear data structure often remains same with the increase in the input size.