Discs and other related data structures

Abstract

We present a new data structure, DISCS, closely related to other well-known digital data structures: tries, Patricia tries and digital search trees. We compare the four of them from the point of view of search efficiency (internal path length, depth of insertion, key-bit inspection) and space (internal nodes, height). Completing some previous results, we derive asymptotic expressions for these parameters, notably for DISCS. We conclude by indications on the domain of application of these different data structures.