The importance of Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) cannot be overstated in the context of computer science and programming. Any aspiring software developer or student of computer science must have a solid foundation in DSA. We have created a set of more than 50+ MCQ questions on DSA and their answers to assist you in testing your knowledge and comprehension of DSA principles. This post intends to give you a wide variety of queries addressing numerous DSA issues.
Table of Contents
Looking for comprehensive study materials on Python, Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA), Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs), Java, Software Testing, and more?
What is an array?
In DSA, arrays are a key type of data structure. They keep a set of identical-type entries in a fixed-size sequential collection. The index, which denotes the element’s place in the array, is used to identify each element in an array. Based on their index, arrays offer effective random access to their elements.
What is a linked list?
A linked list is a type of data structure made up of a series of nodes, each of which has a data element and a link to the node after it in the list. Linked lists don’t require contiguous memory allocation like arrays do. They offer efficient insertion and deletion operations as well as dynamic memory allocation.
What are Stacks and Queues?
Although both queues and stacks are linear data structures, they operate on separate principles. The Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) principle dictates that the last element added is the first one withdrawn in a stack. Push and pop, which involves adding an element to the stack and removing the top element from the stack, are its two primary operations.
A queue, however, operates according to the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) principle. The first component added is also the first one taken out. Enqueue (adding an element to the queue) and dequeue (removing the front element from the queue) are the two basic operations it supports.
What are Trees and Graphs?
Non-linear data structures such as trees and graphs can depict hierarchical relationships between items. Each node in a tree may have zero or more child nodes, and the nodes are connected by edges. It has a root node and comes in a variety of kinds, including binary trees and AVL trees.
An arrangement of nodes (vertices) joined by edges is referred to as a graph. It can either be directed (where the edges point in a certain direction) or undirected (where the edges point in any direction). A variety of relationships, including social networks, computer networks, and transportation networks, are represented by graphs.
What is Dynamic Programming?
In order to tackle large issues, dynamic programming divides them into smaller, overlapping subproblems. In order to solve larger problems, it entails storing the answers to smaller problems in a table and employing those answers. In order to reduce the time and space difficulties of algorithm design, dynamic programming is frequently used.
50+ MCQ Questions on DSA
1. Which data structure follows the Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) principle?
a) Queue
b) Stack
c) Linked List
d) Tree
Answer: b) Stack
2. Which of the following is not a linear data structure?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Tree
Answer: d) Tree
3. In a binary search tree, which traversal visits the nodes in ascending order?
a) Preorder traversal
b) In order traversal
c) Postorder traversal
d) Level order traversal
Answer: b) In order traversal
4. Which sorting algorithm has the worst-case time complexity of O(n^2)?
a) Quick sort
b) Merge sort
c) Bubble sort
d) Insertion sort
Answer: c) Bubble sort
5. Which data structure uses the concept of “First-In-First-Out” (FIFO)?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Tree
d) Linked List
Answer: b) Queue
6. Which search algorithm requires the data to be sorted beforehand?
a) Linear search
b) Binary search
c) Depth-first search
d) Breadth-first search
Answer: b) Binary search
7. Which data structure is used to implement a priority queue?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Heap
d) Linked List
Answer: c) Heap
8. Which algorithm is used to find the shortest path in a weighted graph?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Prim’s algorithm
Answer: c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
9. Which data structure is used to implement a hash table?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Array
Answer: d) Array
10. Which algorithm is used to traverse a graph in a breadth-first manner?
a) Dijkstra’s algorithm
b) Kruskal’s algorithm
c) Breadth-first search
d) Depth-first search
Answer: c) Breadth-first search
11. Which data structure allows efficient insertion and deletion at both ends?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Double-ended queue (Deque)
Answer: d) Double-ended queue (Deque)
12. Which sorting algorithm has a time complexity of O(n log n) in the average case?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Merge sort
Answer: d) Merge sort
13. Which data structure is best suited for implementing a recursive algorithm?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Tree
Answer: a) Stack
14. Which algorithm is used to find the minimum spanning tree of a graph?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Prim’s algorithm
Answer: d) Prim’s algorithm
15. Which data structure uses the concept of “Last-In-First-Out” (LIFO)?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Tree
d) Linked List
Answer: b) Queue
16. Which sorting algorithm works by repeatedly swapping adjacent elements if they are in the wrong order?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Merge sort
Answer: a) Bubble sort
17. Which data structure is used for implementing a cache with efficient insertion and deletion operations?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Hash table
Answer: d) Hash table
18. Which algorithm is used to find the shortest path in an unweighted graph?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Prim’s algorithm
Answer: b) Breadth-first search
19. Which data structure represents a hierarchical relationship between elements?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Tree
Answer: d) Tree
20. Which sorting algorithm is based on the divide-and-conquer strategy?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Merge sort
Answer: d) Merge sort
21. Which data structure is used to implement a LIFO system in a computer’s memory?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Array
Answer: a) Stack
22. Which algorithm is used to find the shortest path between all pairs of vertices in a graph?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Floyd-Warshall algorithm
Answer: d) Floyd-Warshall algorithm
23. Which data structure allows efficient insertion and deletion at the beginning and end of the list?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Double-ended linked list
Answer: d) Double-ended linked list
24. Which sorting algorithm has the best average-case time complexity?
a) Quick sort
b) Merge sort
c) Bubble sort
d) Insertion sort
Answer: b) Merge sort
25. Which data structure is used for implementing undo-redo functionality in a text editor?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Heap
Answer: a) Stack
26. Which algorithm is used to find the minimum spanning tree of a graph with weighted edges?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Prim’s algorithm
Answer: d) Prim’s algorithm
27. Which data structure is used for implementing a call stack in programming languages?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Tree
Answer: a) Stack
28. Which sorting algorithm repeatedly selects the smallest element and places it at the beginning of the list?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Merge sort
Answer: c) Selection sort
29. Which algorithm is used to find the longest increasing subsequence in an array?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Longest Increasing Subsequence (LIS) algorithm
Answer: d) Longest Increasing Subsequence (LIS) algorithm
30. Which data structure is used for implementing a cache with efficient retrieval operations?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Hash table
Answer: d) Hash table
31. Which sorting algorithm works by dividing the list into sublists and repeatedly merging them?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Merge sort
Answer: d) Merge sort
32. Which algorithm is used to find the maximum flow in a network?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Ford-Fulkerson algorithm
Answer: d) Ford-Fulkerson algorithm
33. Which data structure represents a collection of elements with no particular order?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Set
Answer: d) Set
34. Which sorting algorithm is based on the comparison of adjacent elements and swapping them if necessary?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Quick sort
Answer: a) Bubble sort
35. Which algorithm is used to find the topological ordering of a directed acyclic graph (DAG)?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Topological sorting algorithm
Answer: d) Topological sorting algorithm
36. Which data structure is used for implementing a first-in, first-out (FIFO) system?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Array
Answer: b) Queue
37. Which sorting algorithm works by repeatedly selecting the maximum element and placing it at the end of the list?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Quick sort
Answer: c) Selection sort
38. Which algorithm is used to find the articulation points in a graph?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Tarjan’s algorithm
Answer: d) Tarjan’s algorithm
39. Which data structure is used for implementing a priority queue with efficient retrieval of the highest priority element?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Heap
Answer: c) Linked List
40. Which sorting algorithm is known for its efficiency in sorting large datasets?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Radix sort
Answer: d) Radix sort
41. Which algorithm is used to find the strongly connected components in a directed graph?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Tarjan’s algorithm
Answer: a) Depth-first search
42. Which data structure is used for implementing a balanced binary search tree?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) AVL tree
Answer: d) AVL tree
43. Which sorting algorithm divides the list into two sublists, sorted and unsorted, and repeatedly inserts elements into the sorted sublist?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Quick sort
Answer: b) Insertion sort
44. Which algorithm is used to find the articulation bridges in a graph?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Tarjan’s algorithm
Answer: d) Tarjan’s algorithm
45. Which data structure is used for implementing a lookup table with efficient key-value pair retrieval?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Hash table
Answer: d) Hash table
46. Which sorting algorithm is based on the comparison of elements separated by a fixed gap?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Shell sort
Answer: d) Shell sort
47. Which algorithm is used to find the maximum sum subarray in an array?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Kadane’s algorithm
Answer: d) Kadane’s algorithm
48. Which data structure is used for implementing a self-balancing binary search tree?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) Linked List
d) Red-Black tree
Answer: d) Red-Black tree
49. Which sorting algorithm is based on the comparison of adjacent elements and swapping them if necessary, but with a time complexity of O(n)?
a) Bubble sort
b) Insertion sort
c) Selection sort
d) Counting sort
Answer: d) Counting sort
50. Which algorithm is used to find the longest common subsequence of two sequences?
a) Depth-first search
b) Breadth-first search
c) Dijkstra’s algorithm
d) Longest Common Subsequence (LCS) algorithm
Answer: d) Longest Common Subsequence (LCS) algorithm
Conclusion
This article aimed to provide you with a comprehensive set of 50+ MCQ questions on DSA and answers covering various topics in Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA). By going through these questions, you can assess your knowledge and understanding of important concepts in DSA. Remember to analyze each question carefully and try to solve them before referring to the answers in 50+ MCQ questions on DSA. Practice and continuous learning are key to mastering DSA and becoming a skilled software developer.
