About this previous year paper
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.