Data Structure and Algorithms - Linked List

A linked list is a sequence of data structures, which are connected together via links.

Linked List is a sequence of links which contains items. Each link contains a connection to
another link. Linked list is the second most-used data structure after array. Following are the
important terms to understand the concept of Linked List.

 Link − Each link of a linked list can store a data called an element.
 Next − Each link of a linked list contains a link to the next link called Next.
 LinkedList − A Linked List contains the connection link to the first link called First.

Linked List Representation

Linked list can be visualized as a chain of nodes, where every node points to the next node.

As per the above illustration, following are the important points to be considered.

 Linked List contains a link element called first.

 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.
 Last link carries a link as null to mark the end of the list.

Types of Linked List

Following are the various types of linked list.

 Simple Linked List − Item navigation is forward only.

 Doubly Linked List − Items can be navigated forward and backward.
 Circular Linked List − Last item contains link of the first element as next and the first
element has a link to the last element as previous.

Basic Operations

Following are the basic operations supported by a 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.

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.

Imagine that we are inserting a node B (NewNode), between A (LeftNode) and C (RightNode).
Then point B.next to C −

NewNode.next −> RightNode;

It should look like this −

Now, the next node at the left should point to the new node.

LeftNode.next −> NewNode;

This will put the new node in the middle of the two. The new list should look like this −

Similar steps should be taken if the node is being inserted at the beginning of the list. While
inserting it at the end, the second last node of the list should point to the new node and the new
node will point to NULL.

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;

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.

Reverse 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 −

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.

We'll make the head node point to the new first node by using the temp node.

Doubly Linked List

Doubly Linked List is a variation of Linked list in which navigation is possible in both ways,
either forward and backward easily as compared to Single Linked List. Following are the
important terms to understand the concept of doubly linked list.

 Link − Each link of a linked list can store a data called an element.
 Next − Each link of a linked list contains a link to the next link called Next.
 Prev − Each link of a linked list contains a link to the previous link called Prev.
 LinkedList − A Linked List contains the connection link to the first link called First and
to the last link called Last.
Doubly Linked List Representation

As per the above illustration, following are the important points to be considered.

 Doubly Linked List contains a link element called first and last.
 Each link carries a data field(s) and two link fields called next and prev.
 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.

Basic Operations

Following are the basic operations supported by a list.

 Insertion − Adds an element at the beginning of the list.

 Deletion − Deletes an element at the beginning of the list.
 Insert Last − Adds an element at the end of the list.
 Delete Last − Deletes an element from the end of the list.
 Insert After − Adds an element after an item 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.

Insertion Operation

Following code demonstrates the insertion operation at the beginning of a doubly linked list.

Example
//insert link at the first location
void insertFirst(int key, int data) {

//create a link
struct node *link = (struct node*) malloc(sizeof(struct node));
link->key = key;
link->data = data;

if(isEmpty()) {
//make it the last link
last = link;
} else {
//update first prev link
 head->prev = link;
}

//point it to old first link

link->next = head;

//point first to new first link

head = link;
}
Deletion Operation

Following code demonstrates the deletion operation at the beginning of a doubly linked list.

Example
//delete first item
struct node* deleteFirst() {

//save reference to first link

struct node *tempLink = head;

//if only one link

if(head->next == NULL) {
last = NULL;
} else {
head->next->prev = NULL;
}

head = head->next;

//return the deleted link

return tempLink;
}
Insertion at the End of an Operation

Following code demonstrates the insertion operation at the last position of a doubly linked list.

Example
//insert link at the last location
void insertLast(int key, int data) {

//create a link
struct node *link = (struct node*) malloc(sizeof(struct node));
link->key = key;
link->data = data;

if(isEmpty()) {
//make it the last link
last = link;
} else {
//make link a new last link
last->next = link;

//mark old last node as prev of new link

 link->prev = last;
}

//point last to new last node

last = link;
}

Circular Linked List

Circular Linked List is a variation of Linked list in which the first element points to the last
element and the last element points to the first element. Both Singly Linked List and Doubly
Linked List can be made into a circular linked list.

Singly Linked List as Circular

In singly linked list, the next pointer of the last node points to the first node.

Doubly Linked List as Circular

In doubly linked list, the next pointer of the last node points to the first node and the previous
pointer of the first node points to the last node making the circular in both directions.

As per the above illustration, following are the important points to be considered.

 The last link's next points to the first link of the list in both cases of singly as well as
doubly linked list.
 The first link's previous points to the last of the list in case of doubly linked list.

Basic Operations

Following are the important operations supported by a circular list.

 insert − Inserts an element at the start of the list.

  delete − Deletes an element from the start of the list.
 display − Displays the list.

Insertion Operation

Following code demonstrates the insertion operation in a circular linked list based on single
linked list.

Example
insertFirst(data):
Begin
create a new node
node -> data := data
if the list is empty, then
head := node
next of node = head
else
temp := head
while next of temp is not head, do
temp := next of temp
done
next of node := head
next of temp := node
head := node
end if
End
Deletion Operation

Following code demonstrates the deletion operation in a circular linked list based on single
linked list.

deleteFirst():
Begin
if head is null, then
it is Underflow and return
else if next of head = head, then
head := null
deallocate head
else
ptr := head
while next of ptr is not head, do
ptr := next of ptr
next of ptr = next of head
deallocate head
head := next of ptr
end if
End
Display List Operation

Following code demonstrates the display list operation in a circular linked list.
display():
Begin
if head is null, then
Nothing to print and return
else
ptr := head
while next of ptr is not head, do
display data of ptr
ptr := next of ptr
display data of ptr
end if
End