CS is built on abstractions, which make things more modular and easier to think about.
A data structure can be seen as an interface, a logical structure, a physical layout, or an encoding. When you teach them, you have to start from somewhere. The logical structure is usually a good choice, because it contains the key ideas of the structure. If you cram in too many details and too many levels of abstraction, you are just going to confuse the audience.
A data structure can be seen as an interface, a logical structure, a physical layout, or an encoding. When you teach them, you have to start from somewhere. The logical structure is usually a good choice, because it contains the key ideas of the structure. If you cram in too many details and too many levels of abstraction, you are just going to confuse the audience.