Basic Data Structures contains lots of content already covered previously

I am towards the end of “Basic Data Structures”, and a lot of these concepts have been covered earlier in Basic JavaScript, and I can tell that it would’ve been much more helpful back then than it is right now. And I had been told that Data Structures are considered to be a main criteria. I would like to understand a little bit about complex data structures since the basics don’t seem to be very helpful to me in understanding their importance.

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Hi @Brijesh,

There are some distinct differences with the “Basic JavaScript” and “Basic Data Structures” sections, but there indeed is also a little overlap.

You may want to dive into the Coding Interview Prep sections (Algorithms section and Data Structures section) and/or search for articles or videos on data structures and algorithms on freeCodeCamp News site and the freeCodeCamp YouTube channel.

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They aren’t the same, but wouldn’t it make sense to either merge some lessons or to change their placement?

You can try to make a case for it by discussing it in the Contributors subform or opening an issue in the freeCodeCamp github repo. But I think that that one is meant as gentle introduction (Basic JavaScript) and the other (Basic Data Structures) is meant for practice with, reinforcement of, and introduction to new concepts involving arrays and objects.

The intro to arrays and objects in Basic JavaScript is just a drop in the bucket in the other JS features introduced in that section. That is why there is also a dedicated section for them. And the “Basic” in Basic Data Structures is just that—which is why only arrays and objects are worked with there.

You seem to be looking for more depth in learning about common Computer Science Data Structures (stacks, queues, lists, trees, etc). That kind of thing is something you’d want to dive into after learning the language basics. With the basics in one’s toolbelt, you’d be ready to take on thinking about data and operations on data in a more advanced way. That is where your common CS Data Structures come into play.

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Sure!! I’ll look into those, thank you!

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I noticed the “Coding Interview Prep” section has Algorithms and Data Structures in it. I really want to do that stuff, but since I am still only in Basic Algorithmic Scripting, I might not know some things needed to learn that section, so what should I do? I know that Freecodecamp has a 2 hour long youtube video on the this, but I won’t get hands on experience then.

Don’t rush it if you feel you don’t have the skills you need yet. Stick to the main JavaScript Data Structures and Algorithms curriculum.

The Basic Algorithm Scripting and Intermediate Algorithm Scripting sections have challenges that will test the knowledge you gained in the prior lessons/challenges and will challenge you to think about problems by breaking them down into small steps and working step by step.

Don’t let the term “Algorithm” in the title of those sections confuse you. You don’t need to know anything about the common CS Data Structures and Algorithms to get through those sections.

Then once you have a good grasp of the basics feel free to move into the Coding Interview Prep sections.

I am confident in the things I know, but I don’t know if there’s something in between these that will be an issue., JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures is very far from the Coding Interview Prep, I’ll practice though as you said.

If you have a good grasp of basic JavaScript you should have no problem doing the Algorithms section or the Data Structures section of teh Coding Interview Prep.

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Thank You!! I’ll attempt it then

Alot of the concepts in the interview prep section are covered in a basic computer science course.

You might look into doing cs50 or MIT6

You could also look into this resource

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Thanks a ton @jwilkins.oboe !

By the way, is CS50 supposed to be too lengthy? I want to make sure that it is good but I want to make sure that I have the time to invest in it.

they say 11 weeks, but it can take a variable amount of time

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The length is your typical college class.

So it is a semester long.

When I took it, I did most of the problem sets and lectures in a week.
For week’s 4 and 5 I took a little bit longer because those were the hardest problem sets in my opinion.

I would highly recommend it.

Plus it is self paced so you can take as long as you need.

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That’s cool! Thanks @ilenia and @jwilkins.oboe

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