What is a Suffix Array?

Suffix Array is a data structure used for efficient string processing tasks. It is an array of integers that represents the starting positions of the suffixes of a given string, sorted in lexicographical order. This allows for efficient searching, substring matching, and other operations related to the string. It is used for the efficient substring searches and can be constructed in the linear time using the advanced algorithms.

Characteristics of Suffix Array:

• The suffixes of the string are sorted in lexicographical order.
• Suffix Array requires less space compared to other similar data structures like Suffix Tree.
• Suffix Arrays allow for binary-search based algorithms for efficient pattern matching.

Applications of Suffix Array:

• Find the occurrence of a substring within a string.
• Used in text compression.

Suffix Array and Suffix Tree are data structures used for the efficient string processing and pattern matching. They provide the different ways to the store and query substrings each with the unique characteristics and use cases. Understanding the differences between them helps in the choosing the right data structure for the specific applications.