Teach Myself Data Structures?

[ChipS]

How long do you think it would take me to obtain a functional knowledge (enough to do well in an entry-level interview) of data structures? The questions I usually get seem to be simple linked-list/ stack/queue/heap type of questions. Do you know a good resource that would give me a good functional rundown on data structures? I skipped out on the class in school and need to spend the next few weeks teaching it to myself. Do you think what is usually covered at the end of a beginner's C text will be enough?

Any advice on what my expectations or course of action should be would be appreciated.

[CommonTater]

Expect what you find in the real world to make a complete monkey's uncle out of anything you learned in class.

For example: I do a lot of work with random access files, inventory data bases mostly, custom written for the task.

When I first took it on I had some basis in reading and writing simple files in Pascal... I was *totally floored* by the task of writing a database to handle an inventory of 100,000 electronic parts plus all the reordering, cost and retail analysis, etc. It took everything I'd learned plus every last ounce of my creativity to pull it off.

Then of course there's all the pre-fab data bases, like SQL ... trust me, they're a *real* experience.

The simple school examples of linked lists, stacks and stuff are not that common in real world programming. A lot of it is data bases and custom filing structures... mostly random access stuff... and a lot of courses don't even touch on it.

And, of course there's the little matter of skipping a crucial class...

[ChipS]

Thanks for giving me some insight. I should let you know that I'm not a computer science guy, at least not yet. My degree is in electrical engineering and I want to become an embedded systems engineer. Computer engineering majors would have taken a class in java and data structures but that's about the only difference at my school between the majors. I just need to know the book stuff in order to get through the interview well enough to get the job and some real-world experience. I don't really see myself programming in SQL or dealing with database kind of stuff in the near future. Hopefully just some firmware/kernel/UNIX development type stuff.

Do you have any advice on what I might need to know in a entry-level interview setting for this kind of field?

[CommonTater]

Well you might try .... THIS

[ChipS]

Thanks... I was really just trying to get some information from people who might have interviewed for similar positions..