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Introduction To Linked Lists

The document discusses linked lists, which are dynamic data structures composed of nodes that point to the next node in the sequence. There are three main types: singly linked lists where each node has a data field and pointer to the next node; doubly linked lists where each node has pointers to both the next and previous nodes; and circular linked lists where the last node points back to the first node, forming a circular chain. Common applications of linked lists include implementing stacks, queues, graphs and allowing dynamic memory allocation during runtime.

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Ubaid Altaf
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72 views

Introduction To Linked Lists

The document discusses linked lists, which are dynamic data structures composed of nodes that point to the next node in the sequence. There are three main types: singly linked lists where each node has a data field and pointer to the next node; doubly linked lists where each node has pointers to both the next and previous nodes; and circular linked lists where the last node points back to the first node, forming a circular chain. Common applications of linked lists include implementing stacks, queues, graphs and allowing dynamic memory allocation during runtime.

Uploaded by

Ubaid Altaf
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to Linked Lists

Linked List is a very commonly used linear data structure which


consists of group of nodes in a sequence.

Each node holds its own data and the address of the next


node hence forming a chain like structure.

Linked Lists are used to create trees and graphs.

Advantages of Linked Lists

 They are a dynamic in nature which allocates the memory when


required.

 Insertion and deletion operations can be easily implemented.

 Stacks and queues can be easily executed.

 Linked List reduces the access time.

Disadvantages of Linked Lists


 The memory is wasted as pointers require extra memory for
storage.

 No element can be accessed randomly; it has to access each


node sequentially.

 Reverse Traversing is difficult in linked list.

Applications of Linked Lists

 Linked lists are used to implement stacks, queues, graphs, etc.

 Linked lists let you insert elements at the beginning and end of
the list.

 In Linked Lists we don't need to know the size in advance.

Types of Linked Lists

There are 3 different implementations of Linked List available, they are:

1. Singly Linked List

2. Doubly Linked List

3. Circular Linked List

Let's know more about them and how they are different from each
other.
Singly Linked List

Singly linked lists contain nodes which have a data part as well as


an address part i.e. next, which points to the next node in the
sequence of nodes.

The operations we can perform on singly linked lists


are insertion, deletion and traversal.

Doubly Linked List

In a doubly linked list, each node contains a data part and two


addresses, one for the previous node and one for the next node.
Circular Linked List
Circular Linked List is little more complicated linked data structure. In
the circular linked list we can insert elements anywhere in the list
whereas in the array we cannot insert element anywhere in the list
because it is in the contiguous memory. In the circular linked list the
previous element stores the address of the next element and the last
element stores the address of the starting element. The elements
points to each other in a circular way which forms a circular chain. The
circular linked list has a dynamic size which means the memory can be
allocated when it is required.

Application of Circular Linked List

 The real life application where the circular linked list is used is
our Personal Computers, where multiple applications are
running. All the running applications are kept in a circular linked
list and the OS gives a fixed time slot to all for running. The
Operating System keeps on iterating over the linked list until all
the applications are completed.

 Another example can be Multiplayer games. All the Players are


kept in a Circular Linked List and the pointer keeps on moving
forward as a player's chance ends.

 Circular Linked List can also be used to create Circular Queue. In


a Queue we have to keep two pointers, FRONT and REAR in
memory all the time, where as in Circular Linked List, only one
pointer is required.

Implementing Circular Linked List

Implementing a circular linked list is very easy and almost similar to


linear linked list implementation, with the only difference being that, in
circular linked list the last Node will have it's next point to
the Head of the List. In Linear linked list the last Node simply holds
NULL in it's next pointer.

So this will be oue Node class, as we have already studied in the


lesson, it will be used to form the List.

class Node {

public:

int data;

//pointer to the next node

node* next;

node() {

data = 0;

next = NULL;
}

node(int x) {

data = x;

next = NULL;

Copy

Circular Linked List

Circular Linked List class will be almost same as the Linked List class
that we studied in the previous lesson, with a few difference in the
implementation of class methods.

class CircularLinkedList {

public:

node *head;

//declaring the functions


//function to add Node at front

int addAtFront(node *n);

//function to check whether Linked list is empty

int isEmpty();

//function to add Node at the End of list

int addAtEnd(node *n);

//function to search a value

node* search(int k);

//function to delete any Node

node* deleteNode(int x);

CircularLinkedList() {

head = NULL;

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