(SEM III) THEORY EXAMINATION 2023-24 BASICS DATA STRUCTURE & ALGORITHMS

This question paper is designed to evaluate a student’s understanding of fundamental data structures, algorithmic techniques, and computational problem-solving approaches. The questions cover all important concepts including arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs, searching, sorting, B-trees, hash tables, recursion, and asymptotic notation.

The paper is divided into three structured sections to assess both theoretical knowledge and practical implementation skills.

SECTION A — Short Answer Conceptual Questions (14 Marks)

This section contains seven brief questions, each carrying 2 marks, aimed at testing the student’s basic understanding of essential concepts.
Students must answer all questions.

Topics include:

Definitions of core terms like data structures, Big-O notation, binary trees, threaded trees.

Basic conversions such as infix → prefix expression.

Understanding sorting properties like stable and in-place algorithms.

Memory representation of graphs.

This section checks how well students understand foundational concepts that form the base of advanced topics.

SECTION B — Descriptive / Analytical Questions (21 Marks)

Students must attempt any three out of five questions.
Each question carries 7 marks, designed to test deeper understanding, explanation skills, and algorithmic thinking.

Topics in this section include:

Sparse matrix representation

Queue operations with examples

Dry-run of Quick Sort

Minimum Spanning Tree using Prim’s Algorithm

B-Tree insertions (degree 5)

These questions require students to demonstrate reasoning, step-wise working, and understanding of algorithmic procedures.

SECTION C — Application-Level / Programming Questions (35 Marks)

This section contains five choices, each with two parts, and students must attempt one part from each question set.
Each carries 7 marks, focusing on real problem-solving and programming logic.

Topics include:

C programs for linked list operations and array insert/delete

Tower of Hanoi recursion algorithm

Infix → Postfix conversion using a stack

Hash table chaining and chain-length analysis

Binary Search implementation

Binary Search Trees (deletion, tree traversal construction)

BFS traversal or Warshall’s algorithm with working

This section evaluates a student’s ability to apply concepts in coding, algorithm design, and computational reasoning.

Overall Purpose of the Question Paper

The paper aims to ensure that students:

Understand the logic behind data structures

Can execute and trace algorithms manually

Demonstrate knowledge of memory organization and storage techniques

Apply algorithms to practical problems

Write basic C programs for insertion, deletion, recursion, searching, and tree operations

Analyze structures like graphs, B-trees, and BSTs

The questions progressively test knowledge → application → analytical skills, making it a comprehensive assessment tool for DS & Algorithms.