> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.parallaxprotocol.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Data Structures & Encoding

Parallax creates, stores and transfers large volumes of data. This data must get formatted in standardized and memory-efficient ways to allow anyone to run a node on relatively modest consumer-grade hardware. To achieve this, several specific data structures are used on the Parallax stack.

## Prerequisites

You should understand the fundamentals of Parallax and [client software](../../foundational-topics/nodes-and-clients.md). Familiarity with the networking layer and [the Ethereum whitepaper](https://ethereum.org/en/whitepaper/) is recommended.

## Data structures

### Patricia merkle tries

Patricia Merkle Tries are structures that encode key-value pairs into a deterministic and cryptographically authenticated trie. These are used extensively across Parallax.

[More on Patricia Merkle Tries](./patricia-trie)

### Recursive Length Prefix

Recursive Length Prefix (RLP) is a serialization method used extensively across Parallax.

[More on RLP](./rlp)