Application Of Linked List Data Structure

Hello Everyone In this article, we will understand the Application of linked list in Details.

Linked List
Linked List

What are linked lists ?

A linked list is a data structure where the objects are arranged in a linear order. Unlike an array, however, in which the linear order is determined by the array indices, the order in a linked list is determined by a pointer in each object.

Properties of Linked Lists

  • It can be visualized as a chain of nodes where each node contains the location of the next node. You can see this in the diagram given below:
Application Of Linked List Data Structure

  • The structure of the node is
Application Of Linked List Data Structure
  • The first node of the linked list is called the head of the linked list. Through head, we can perform different operations on the linked list. In every linked list question, we will be given the reference of the head node of the linked list.
  • The last node of the linked list is pointing to NULL(None) which indicates that it is the last node.
  • Unlike arrays, linked list elements are not stored at contiguous memory locations.
  • Linked Lists addresses some of the limitations of arrays of having a fixed size because Linked Lists are dynamic in nature.

Advantages and Disadvantage of Linked list

PROS:

  • Dynamic Data Structure:
  • No Memory Wastage:
  • Implementation:
  • Insertion and Deletion Operation:
  • Memory Usage:
  • Random Access:
  • Reverse Traversal:

CONS

  • Random access is not allowed. …
  • Extra memory space for a pointer is required with each element of the list.
  • Arrays have better cache locality that can make a pretty big difference in performance.
  • It takes a lot of time in traversing and changing the pointers.

Types of Linked Lists In Data Structure

There are four key types of linked lists:

  • Singly linked lists
  • Doubly linked lists
  • Circular linked lists
  • Circular doubly linked lists
types_of_linked_list-what-img2

Singly linked lists

A singly linked list is a type of linked list that is unidirectional, that is, it can be traversed in only one direction from head to the last node (tail). Each element in a linked list is called a node. A single node contains data and a pointer to the next node which helps in maintaining the structure of the list.

Doubly linked lists

A doubly linked list is a linked data structure that consists of a set of sequentially linked records called nodes. Each node contains three fields: two link fields (references to the previous and to the next node in the sequence of nodes) and one data field.

Circular linked lists

A circular linked list is a type of linked list in which the first and the last nodes are also connected to each other to form a circle. Here, the address of the last node consists of the address of the first node.

Circular doubly linked lists

Circular doubly linked list is a more complexed type of data structure in which a node contain pointers to its previous node as well as the next node. Circular doubly linked list doesn’t contain NULL in any of the node. The last node of the list contains the address of the first node of the list.

Applications Of Linked List

  • Linked lists are used to implement stacks, queues, graphs, etc.
  • A linked list is used to represent sparse matrices
  • You can implement an image viewer using a circular linked list
  • You can use the linked list concept to navigate through web pages
  • You can use a circular doubly linked list to implement a Fibonacci heap

Some other applications of linked list:

  • Memory Management: Memory Management is the process of controlling and coordinating computer memory, assigning portions known as blocks to various running programs to optimize the overall performance of the system. It is the most important function of an operating system that manages primary memory.
  • Mailing List: Linked lists have their use in email applications. Since it is difficult to predict multiple lists, maybe a mailer builds a linked list of addresses before sending a message.
  • LISP: LISP is an acronym for LIST processor, an important programming language in artificial intelligence. This language extensively uses linked lists in performing symbolic processing.
  • Virtual Memory: An interesting application of linked lists is found in the way systems support virtual memory.

Where is linked list used in real life?

A list of images that need to be burned to a CD in a medical imaging application.
A list of users of a website that need to be emailed some notification.
A list of objects in a 3D game that need to be rendered to the screen.

Are linked lists still used?

The linux kernel uses linked-lists extensively, and so does a lot of other software. So, yes, relevant. There are operations you can do in O(1) on lists that are O(n) on arrays so there will always be cases where lists are more efficient.

Is linked list important in programming?

linked lists are an important, basic structure of computer programming. Using nodes as units of code and linking them is an essential basis for understanding more complex data structures. And linked lists are quite widely implemented. For example, a related data structure is a doubly linked list.

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Saransh Saurav

Saransh Saurav

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