Random Access

Definitions

1. The ability to read or write any element in a data structure in O(1) time by its index or address, without traversing preceding elements. Arrays and RAM provide random access, whereas linked lists and tape drives require sequential access.

   In plain English: Being able to jump directly to any item in a collection instantly, like flipping to page 200 of a book instead of reading from page 1.

   Example: "We switched from a linked list to a vector because we needed random access to elements by index in the hot loop."

Related Terms

• Cache
• Memory Allocation
• Apache Arrow
• Memory Pool
• Page Fault
• Memory Leak
• Linked List
• Lookup Table
• Pass by Reference
• Pass by Value
• Reference
• Slice
• Sorted Set
• Weak Map
• Weak Set
• Bit Field
• Circular Buffer
• Custom Allocator
• Cyclic Reference