Practical Use of Data Structures in Software Development

Presenter: Mordecai Joel Yiadom

Faculty Sponsor: Ali Al-Faris

School: Worcester State University

Research Area: Computer Science

Session: Poster Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM, Auditorium, A73

ABSTRACT

This project sought to create a desktop exercise planner using Java and implementing data structures and sorting algorithms, while also making the program functional and purposeful. Our application's purpose is to provide users with an easy and engaging way to plan exercise routines. This is done using the programming language Java and the GUI (Graphical User Interface) component uses Java Swing library. The application features include adding custom exercises to a local database of exercises. The user may also create a workout plan; a collection of exercises, to add to the user's schedule. User's may also get reminders based on when they scheduled their workouts. The data structures used were linked lists, hash maps, and sets. For algorithms, linear search was used. Linked lists and sets were used for implementing exercises and workout plans. Hash Maps were used for storing user data, like exercises and workout plans in the local database as well as the schedule system for users to plan their workouts. This project involved not only understanding data structures, but implementing them effectively for a concrete and practical application was the challenging part. In future we seek to refactor the code base to allow for easier changes and additions to be made.