What are the lesser known but cool data structures ?
- by f3lix
There a some data structures around that are really cool but are unknown to most programmers. Which are they?
Everybody knows linked lists, binary trees, and hashes, but what about Skip lists, Bloom filters for example. I would like to know more data structures that are not so common, but are worth knowing because they rely on great ideas and enrich a programmer's tool box.
PS: I am also interested on techniques like Dancing links which make interesting use of the properties of a common data structure.
EDIT:
Please try to include links to pages describing the data structures in more detail. Also, try to add a couple of words on why a data structures is cool (as Jonas Kölker already pointed out). Also, try to provide one data-structure per answer. This will allow the better data structures to float to the top based on their votes alone.
