A data structure is a format for organizing and storing data. The structure is designed so that data can be accessed and worked with in specific ways.
Structures are either homogeneous or heterogeneous, which describes the data types they hold (one type versus multiple types).
Structures can also be characterized by their dimensionality, see Table Table 1.
| Dimension | Homogeneous | Heterogeneous |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atomic vector | List |
| 2 | Matrix | Data frame |
| N | Array |