Linked list, Singly link list and its operations
- 1. UNIT - III Linked List DATA STRUCTURES
- 2. A linked list is a linear data structure which can store a collection of "nodes" connected together via links i.e. pointers. Linked lists nodes are not stored at a contiguous location, rather they are linked using pointers to the different memory locations. A node consists of the data value and a pointer to the address of the next node within the linked list. A linked list is a dynamic linear data structure whose memory size can be allocated or de- allocated at run time based on the operation insertion or deletion, this helps in using system memory efficiently. Linked lists can be used to implement various data structures like a stack, queue, graph, hash maps, etc.
- 3. ArraysVs Linked List 15 45 25 50 22 35 30 20 10 a b c d e f g h i j 40 k 15 45 25 50 22 35 30 20 10 h a c d e f g b i 40 k 15 45 25 50 22 35 30 20 10 h a c d e f g i 40 k b 15 45 25 50 22 35 30 20 10 h 40
- 4. Singly Linked Lists Singly linked lists contain two "buckets" in one node; one bucket holds the data and the other bucket holds the address of the next node of the list. Traversals can be done in one direction only as there is only a single link between two nodes of the same list.
- 5. Basic Operations in Linked List Insertion − Adds an element at the beginning of the list. Deletion − Deletes an element at the beginning of the list. Display − Displays the complete list. Search − Searches an element using the given key. Delete − Deletes an element using the given key.
- 6. Linked List - Insertion Operation Adding a new node in linked list is a more than one step activity. We shall learn this with diagrams here. First, create a node using the same structure and find the location where it has to be inserted.
- 7. Imagine that we are inserting a node B (NewNode), between A (LeftNode) and C (RightNode). Then point B.next to C − NewNode.next -> RightNode; LeftNode.next -> NewNode;
- 8. Deletion Operation Deletion is also a more than one step process. We shall learn with pictorial representation. First, locate the target node to be removed, by using searching algorithms. The left (previous) node of the target node now should point to the next node of the target node LeftNode.next -> TargetNode.next;
- 9. This will remove the link that was pointing to the target node. Now, using the following code, we will remove what the target node is pointing at. TargetNode.next -> NULL; We need to use the deleted node. We can keep that in memory otherwise we can simply deallocate memory and wipe off the target node completely.
- 10. Linked List - Reversal Operation This operation is a thorough one. We need to make the last node to be pointed by the head node and reverse the whole linked list. First, we traverse to the end of the list. It should be pointing to NULL. Now, we shall make it point to its previous node
- 11. We have to make sure that the last node is not the last node. So we'll have some temp node, which looks like the head node pointing to the last node. Now, we shall make all left side nodes point to their previous nodes one by one. Except the node (first node) pointed by the head node, all nodes should point to their predecessor, making them their new successor. The first node will point to NULL.
- 12. Doubly Linked List Doubly Linked List is a variation of Linked list in which navigation is possible in both ways, forward as well as backward easily as compared to Single Linked List Doubly Linked List contains a link element called first and last. Each link carries a data field(s) and a link field called next. Each link is linked with its next link using its next link. Each link is linked with its previous link using its previous link. The last link carries a link as null to mark the end of the list.
- 13. Doubly linked list is a collection of nodes linked together in a sequential way. Doubly linked list is almost similar to singly linked list except it contains two address or reference fields, where one of the address field contains reference of the next node and other contains reference of the previous node. First and last node of a linked list contains a terminator generally a NULL value, that determines the start and end of the list. Doubly linked list is sometimes also referred as bi-directional linked list since it allows traversal of nodes in both direction. Since doubly linked list allows the traversal of nodes in both direction, we can keep track of both first and last nodes.
- 14. Basic Operations in Doubly Linked List Insertion − Adds an element at the beginning of the list. Insert Last − Adds an element at the end of the list. Insert After − Adds an element after an item of the list. Deletion − Deletes an element at the beginning of the list. Delete Last − Deletes an element from the end of the list. Delete − Deletes an element from the list using the key. Display forward − Displays the complete list in a forward manner. Display backward − Displays the complete list in a backward manner.