MCQS

1. What is a data structure?

a) A programming language
b) A collection of algorithms
c) A way to store and organize data
d) A type of computer hardware
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: A data structure is a way to store and organize data efficiently, enhancing
access and manipulation, unlike programming languages, algorithms, or computer
hardware.
2. What are the disadvantages of arrays?
a) Index value of an array can be negative
b) Elements are sequentially accessed
c) Data structure like queue or stack cannot be implemented
d) There are chances of wastage of memory space if elements inserted in an array are
lesser than the allocated size
View Answer
Answer: d
Explanation: Arrays are of fixed size. If we insert elements less than the allocated size,
unoccupied positions can’t be used again. Wastage will occur in memory.
3. Which data structure is used for implementing recursion?
a) Stack
b) Queue
c) List
d) Array
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: Stacks are used for the implementation of Recursion.
4. The data structure required to check whether an expression contains a balanced
parenthesis is?
a) Queue
b) Stack
c) Tree
d) Array
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: The stack is a simple data structure in which elements are added and removed
based on the LIFO principle. Open parenthesis is pushed into the stack and a closed
parenthesis pops out elements till the top element of the stack is its corresponding open
parenthesis. If the stack is empty, parenthesis is balanced otherwise it is unbalanced.
5. Which of the following is not the application of stack?
a) Data Transfer between two asynchronous process
b) Compiler Syntax Analyzer
c) Tracking of local variables at run time
d) A parentheses balancing program
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: Data transfer between the two asynchronous process uses the queue data
structure for synchronisation. The rest are all stack applications.
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6. Which data structure is needed to convert infix notation to postfix notation?
a) Tree
b) Branch
c) Stack
d) Queue
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: The Stack data structure is used to convert infix expression to postfix
expression. The purpose of stack is to reverse the order of the operators in the expression.
It also serves as a storage structure, as no operator can be printed until both of its operands
have appeared.
7. What is the value of the postfix expression 6 3 2 4 + – *?
a) 74
b) -18
c) 22
d) 40
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: Postfix Expression is (6*(3-(2+4))) which results -18 as output.
8. What data structure would you mostly likely see in non recursive implementation of a
recursive algorithm?
a) Stack
b) Linked List
c) Tree
d) Queue
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: In recursive algorithms, the order in which the recursive process comes back is
the reverse of the order in which it goes forward during execution. The compiler uses the
stack data structure to implement recursion. In the forwarding phase, the values of local
variables, parameters and the return address are pushed into the stack at each recursion
level. In the backing-out phase, the stacked address is popped and used to execute the rest
of the code.
9. Which of the following statement(s) about stack data structure is/are NOT correct?
a) Top of the Stack always contain the new node
b) Stack is the FIFO data structure
c) Null link is present in the last node at the bottom of the stack
d) Linked List are used for implementing Stacks
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: Stack follows LIFO.
10. The data structure required for Breadth First Traversal on a graph is?
a) Array
b) Stack
c) Tree
d) Queue
View Answer
Answer: d
Explanation: In Breadth First Search Traversal, BFS, starting vertex is first taken and
adjacent vertices which are unvisited are also taken. Again, the first vertex which was
added as an unvisited adjacent vertex list will be considered to add further unvisited vertices
of the graph. To get the first unvisited vertex we need to follows First In First Out principle.
Queue uses FIFO principle.
11. The prefix form of A-B/ (C * D ^ E) is?
a) -A/B*C^DE
b) -A/BC*^DE
c) -ABCD*^DE
d) -/*^ACBDE
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: Infix Expression is A-B/(C*D^E)
This can be written as: A-(B/(C*(D^E)))
Thus prefix expression is -A/B*C^DE.
12. Which of the following points is/are not true about Linked List data structure when it is
compared with an array?
a) Random access is not allowed in a typical implementation of Linked Lists
b) Access of elements in linked list takes less time than compared to arrays
c) Arrays have better cache locality that can make them better in terms of performance
d) It is easy to insert and delete elements in Linked List
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: To access an element in a linked list, we need to traverse every element until
we reach the desired element. This will take more time than arrays as arrays provide
random access to its elements.
13. Which data structure is based on the Last In First Out (LIFO) principle?
a) Tree
b) Linked List
c) Stack
d) Queue
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: The data structure that follows the Last In First Out (LIFO) principle is the
Stack. It operates like a stack of objects, making it suitable for specific-order management.
14. Which of the following application makes use of a circular linked list?
a) Recursive function calls
b) Undo operation in a text editor
c) Implement Hash Tables
d) Allocating CPU to resources
View Answer
Answer: d
Explanation: Generally, round robin fashion is employed to allocate CPU time to resources
which makes use of the circular linked list data structure. Recursive function calls use stack
data structure. Undo Operation in text editor uses doubly linked lists. Hash tables uses
singly linked lists.
15. What is a bit array?
a) Data structure that compactly stores bits
b) Data structure for representing arrays of records
c) Array in which elements are not present in continuous locations
d) An array in which most of the elements have the same value
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: It compactly stores bits and exploits bit-level parallelism.
16. Which of the following tree data structures is not a balanced binary tree?
a) Splay tree
b) B-tree
c) AVL tree
d) Red-black tree
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: All the tree data structures given in options are balanced, but B-tree can have
more than two children.
17. Which of the following is not the type of queue?
a) Priority queue
b) Circular queue
c) Single ended queue
d) Ordinary queue
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: Queue always has two ends. So, single ended queue is not the type of queue.
18. Which of the following data structures can be used for parentheses matching?
a) n-ary tree
b) queue
c) priority queue
d) stack
View Answer
Answer: d
Explanation: For every opening brace, push it into the stack, and for every closing brace,
pop it off the stack. Do not take action for any other character. In the end, if the stack is
empty, then the input has balanced parentheses.
19. Which algorithm is used in the top tree data structure?
a) Backtracking
b) Divide and Conquer
c) Branch
d) Greedy
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: Top tree is a type of data structure which is based on unrooted dynamic binary
tree and is used to solve path related problems. It allows an algorithm called divide and
conquer.
20. What is the need for a circular queue?
a) easier computations
b) implement LIFO principle in queues
c) effective usage of memory
d) to delete elements based on priority
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: In a linear queue, dequeue operation causes the starting elements of the array
to be empty, and there is no way you can use that space, while in a circular queue, you can
effectively use that space. Priority queue is used to delete the elements based on their
priority. Higher priority elements will be deleted first whereas lower priority elements will be
deleted next. Queue data structure always follows FIFO principle.
21. Which of the following is the most widely used external memory data structure?
a) B-tree
b) Red-black tree
c) AVL tree
d) Both AVL tree and Red-black tree
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: In external memory, the data is transferred in form of blocks. These blocks
have data valued and pointers. And B-tree can hold both the data values and pointers. So
B-tree is used as an external memory data structure.
22. Which of the following is also known as Rope data structure?
a) Linked List
b) Array
c) String
d) Cord
View Answer
Answer: d
Explanation: Array is a linear data structure. Strings are a collection and sequence of codes,
alphabets or characters. Linked List is a linear data structure having a node containing data
input and the address of the next node. The cord is also known as the rope data structure.
23. What will be the output of the following program?

main()
{
 char str[]="san foundry";
int len = strlen(str);
int i;

for(i=0;i<len;i++)
push(str[i]); // pushes an element into stack

for(i=0;i<len;i++)
pop(); //pops an element from the stack
}

a) yrdnuof nas
b) foundry nas
c) sanfoundry
d) san foundry
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: First, the string ‘san foundry’ is pushed one by one into the stack.
When it is popped, the output will be as ‘yrdnuof nas’.
24. Which of the following data structure can provide efficient searching of the elements?
a) binary search tree
b) unordered lists
c) 2-3 tree
d) treap
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: The average case time for lookup in a binary search tree, treap and 2-3 tree is
O(log n) and in unordered lists it is O(n). But in the worst case, only the 2-3 trees perform
lookup efficiently as it takes O(log n), while others take O(n).
25. What is an AVL tree?
a) a tree which is unbalanced and is a height balanced tree
b) a tree which is balanced and is a height balanced tree
c) a tree with atmost 3 children
d) a tree with three children
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: It is a self balancing tree with height difference atmost 1.
26. What is the time complexity for searching a key or integer in Van Emde Boas data
structure?
a) O (M!)
b) O (log M!)
c) O (log (log M))
d) O (M2)
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: In order to search a key or integer in the Van Emde Boas data structure, the
operation can be performed on an associative array. Hence, the time complexity for
searching a key or integer in Van Emde Boas data structure is O (log (log M)).
27. The optimal data structure used to solve Tower of Hanoi is _________
a) Tree
b) Heap
c) Priority queue
d) Stack
View Answer
Answer: d
Explanation: The Tower of Hanoi involves moving of disks ‘stacked’ at one peg to another
peg with respect to the size constraint. It is conveniently done using stacks and priority
queues. Stack approach is widely used to solve Tower of Hanoi.
28. What is the use of the bin data structure?
a) to have efficient traversal
b) to have efficient region query
c) to have efficient deletion
d) to have efficient insertion
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: Bin data structure allows us to have efficient region queries. A frequency of bin
is increased by one each time a data point falls into a bin.
29. Which is the most appropriate data structure for reversing a word?
a) stack
b) queue
c) graph
d) tree
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: Stack is the most appropriate data structure for reversing a word because
stack follows LIFO principle.
30. What is the functionality of the following piece of code?

public void display()

{
if(size == 0)
System.out.println("underflow");
else
{
Node current = first;
while(current != null)
{
System.out.println(current.getEle());
current = current.getNext();
}
}
}

a) display the list

b) reverse the list
c) reverse the list excluding top-of-the-stack-element
d) display the list excluding top-of-the-stack-element
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: An alias of the node ‘first’ is created which traverses through the list and
displays the elements.
31. Which of the following is the simplest data structure that supports range searching?
a) AA-trees
b) K-d trees
c) Heaps
d) binary search trees
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: K-d trees are the simplest data structure that supports range searching and
also it achieves the respectable running time.
32. What is the advantage of a hash table as a data structure?
a) easy to implement
b) faster access of data
c) exhibit good locality of reference
d) very efficient for less number of entries
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: Hash table is a data structure that has an advantage that it allows fast access
of elements. Hash functions are used to determine the index of any input record in a hash
table.
33. Which type of data structure is a ternary heap?
a) Hash
b) Array
c) Priority Stack
d) Priority Queue
View Answer
Answer: d
Explanation: Ternary heap is a type of data structure in the field of computer science. It is a
part of the Heap data structure family. It is a priority queue type of data structure that follows
all the property of heap.
34. What is a dequeue?
a) A queue implemented with both singly and doubly linked lists
b) A queue with insert/delete defined for front side of the queue
c) A queue with insert/delete defined for both front and rear ends of the queue
d) A queue implemented with a doubly linked list
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: A dequeue or a double ended queue is a queue with insert/delete defined for
both front and rear ends of the queue.
35. A data structure in which elements can be inserted or deleted at/from both ends but not
in the middle is?
a) Priority queue
b) Dequeue
c) Circular queue
d) Queue
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: In dequeuer, we can insert or delete elements from both the ends. In queue,
we will follow first in first out principle for insertion and deletion of elements. Element with
least priority will be deleted in a priority queue.
36. What is the output of the following Java code?

public class array

{
public static void main(String args[])
{
int []arr = {1,2,3,4,5};
System.out.println(arr[2]);
System.out.println(arr[4]);
}
}

a) 4 and 2
b) 2 and 4
c) 5 and 3
d) 3 and 5
View Answer
Answer: d
Explanation: Array indexing starts from 0.
37. In simple chaining, what data structure is appropriate?
a) Doubly linked list
b) Circular linked list
c) Singly linked list
d) Binary trees
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: Deletion becomes easier with doubly linked list, hence it is appropriate.
1. A linear collection of data elements where the linear node is given by means of pointer is
called?
a) Linked list
b) Node list
c) Primitive list
d) Unordered list
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: In Linked list each node has its own data and the address of next node. These
nodes are linked by using pointers. Node list is an object that consists of a list of all nodes in
a document with in a particular selected set of nodes.
2. Consider an implementation of unsorted singly linked list. Suppose it has its
representation with a head pointer only. Given the representation, which of the following
operation can be implemented in O(1) time?

i) Insertion at the front of the linked list

ii) Insertion at the end of the linked list
iii) Deletion of the front node of the linked list
iv) Deletion of the last node of the linked list
a) I and II
b) I and III
c) I, II and III
d) I, II and IV
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: We know the head node in the given linked list. Insertion and deletion of
elements at the front of the linked list completes in O (1) time whereas for insertion and
deletion at the last node requires to traverse through every node in the linked list. Suppose
there are n elements in a linked list, we need to traverse through each node. Hence time
complexity becomes O(n).
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3. In linked list each node contains a minimum of two fields. One field is data field to store
the data second field is?
a) Pointer to character
b) Pointer to integer
c) Pointer to node
d) Node
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: Each node in a linked list contains data and a pointer (reference) to the next
node. Second field contains pointer to node.
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4. What would be the asymptotic time complexity to add a node at the end of singly linked
list, if the pointer is initially pointing to the head of the list?
a) O(1)
b) O(n)
c) θ(n)
d) Both O(n) and θ(n)
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: In case of a linked list having n elements, we need to travel through every
node of the list to add the element at the end of the list. Thus asymptotic time complexity is
both θ(n) and O(n). Θ(n) represents the tight bound of the algorithm’s time complexity,
meaning it captures the best, average, and worst-case scenarios that are all linear in this
case. O(n) signifies the upper bound, indicating the worst-case scenario is no worse than
linear.
5. What would be the asymptotic time complexity to insert an element at the front of the
linked list (head is known)?
a) O(1)
b) O(n)
c) O(n2)
d) O(n3)
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: To add an element at the front of the linked list, we will create a new node
which holds the data to be added to the linked list and pointer which points to head position
in the linked list. The entire thing happens within O (1) time. Thus the asymptotic time
complexity is O (1).
6. What would be the asymptotic time complexity to find an element in the linked list?
a) O(1)
b) O(n)
c) O(n2)
d) O(n4)
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: If the required element is in the last position, we need to traverse the entire
linked list. This will take O (n) time to search the element.
7. What would be the asymptotic time complexity to insert an element at the second position
in the linked list?
a) O(1)
b) O(n)
c) O(n2)
d) O(n3)
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: A new node is created with the required element. The pointer of the new node
points the node to which the head node of the linked list is also pointing. The head node
pointer is changed and it points to the new node which we created earlier. The entire
process completes in O (1) time. Thus the asymptotic time complexity to insert an element
in the second position of the linked list is O (1).
8. The concatenation of two lists can be performed in O(1) time. Which of the following
variation of the linked list can be used?
a) Singly linked list
b) Doubly linked list
c) Circular doubly linked list
d) Array implementation of list
View Answer

Answer: c
Explanation: We can easily concatenate two lists in O (1) time using singly or doubly linked
list, provided that we have a pointer to the last node at least one of the lists. But in case of
circular doubly linked lists, we will break the link in both the lists and hook them together.
Thus circular doubly linked list concatenates two lists in O (1) time.
9. Consider the following definition in c programming language.

struct node
{
int data;
struct node * next;
}
typedef struct node NODE;
NODE *ptr;
Which of the following c code is used to create new node?
a) ptr = (NODE*)malloc(sizeof(NODE));
b) ptr = (NODE*)malloc(NODE);
c) ptr = (NODE*)malloc(sizeof(NODE*));
d) ptr = (NODE)malloc(sizeof(NODE));
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: As it represents the right way to create a node.
1. What kind of linked list is best to answer questions like “What is the item at position n?”
a) Singly linked list
b) Doubly linked list
c) Circular linked list
d) Array implementation of linked list
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Arrays provide random access to elements by providing the index value within
square brackets. In the linked list, we need to traverse through each element until we reach
the nth position. Time taken to access an element represented in arrays is less than the
singly, doubly and circular linked lists. Thus, array implementation is used to access the
item at the position n.
2. Linked lists are not suitable for the implementation of _____
a) Insertion sort
b) Radix sort
c) Polynomial manipulation
d) Binary search
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: It cannot be implemented using linked lists.
3. Linked list is considered as an example of _____ type of memory allocation.
a) Dynamic
b) Static
c) Compile time
d) Heap
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: As memory is allocated at the run time.
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4. In Linked List implementation, a node carries information regarding _____
a) Data
b) Link
c) Data and Link
d) Node
View Answer
Answer: c
Explanation: A linked list is a collection of objects linked together by references from an
object to another object. By convention these objects are names as nodes. Linked list
consists of nodes where each node contains one or more data fields and a reference(link)
to the next node.
5. Linked list data structure offers considerable saving in _____
a) Computational Time
b) Space Utilization
c) Space Utilization and Computational Time
d) Speed Utilization
View Answer

Answer: c
Explanation: Linked lists saves both space and time.
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6. Which of the following points is/are not true about Linked List data structure when it is
compared with an array?
a) Arrays have better cache locality that can make them better in terms of performance
b) It is easy to insert and delete elements in Linked List
c) Random access is not allowed in a typical implementation of Linked Lists
d) Access of elements in linked list takes less time than compared to arrays
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: To access an element in a linked list, we need to traverse every element until
we reach the desired element. This will take more time than arrays as arrays provide
random access to its elements.
7. What does the following function do for a given Linked List with first node as head?

void fun1(struct node* head)

{
if(head == NULL)
 return;
fun1(head->next);
printf("%d ", head->data);
}
a) Prints all nodes of linked lists
b) Prints all nodes of linked list in reverse order
c) Prints alternate nodes of Linked List
d) Prints alternate nodes in reverse order
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: fun1() prints the given Linked List in reverse manner.
For Linked List 1->2->3->4->5, fun1() prints 5->4->3->2->1.
8. Which of the following sorting algorithms can be used to sort a random linked list with
minimum time complexity?
a) Insertion Sort
b) Quick Sort
c) Heap Sort
d) Merge Sort
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Both Merge sort and Insertion sort can be used for linked lists. The slow
random-access performance of a linked list makes other algorithms (such as quicksort)
perform poorly, and others (such as heapsort) completely impossible. Since worst case time
complexity of Merge Sort is O(nLogn) and Insertion sort is O(n2), merge sort is preferred.
1. Which of the following is not a disadvantage to the usage of array?
a) Fixed size
b) There are chances of wastage of memory space if elements inserted in an array are
lesser than the allocated size
c) Insertion based on position
d) Accessing elements at specified positions
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Array elements can be accessed in two steps. First, multiply the size of the
data type with the specified position, second, add this value to the base address. Both of
these operations can be done in constant time, hence accessing elements at a given
index/position is faster.
2. What is the time complexity of inserting at the end in dynamic arrays?
a) O(1)
b) O(n)
c) O(logn)
d) Either O(1) or O(n)
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Depending on whether the array is full or not, the complexity in dynamic array
varies. If you try to insert into an array that is not full, then the element is simply stored at
the end, this takes O(1) time. If you try to insert into an array which is full, first you will have
to allocate an array with double the size of the current array and then copy all the elements
into it and finally insert the new element, this takes O(n) time.
3. What is the time complexity to count the number of elements in the linked list?
a) O(1)
b) O(n)
c) O(logn)
d) O(n2)
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: To count the number of elements, you have to traverse through the entire list,
hence complexity is O(n).
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4. Which of the following performs deletion of the last element in the list? Given below is the
Node class.

class Node
{
protected Node next;
protected Object ele;
Node(Object e,Node n)
{
ele = e;
next = n;
}
public void setNext(Node n)
{
next = n;
}
public void setEle(Object e)
{
ele = e;
}
public Node getNext()
{
return next;
}
public Object getEle()
{
return ele;
}
}
class SLL
{
 Node head;
int size;
SLL()
{
size = 0;
}
}
a)

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public Node removeLast()
{
if(size == 0)
return null;
Node cur;
Node temp;
cur = head;
while(cur.getNext() != null)
{
temp = cur;
cur = cur.getNext();
}
temp.setNext(null);
size--;
return cur;
}
b)

public void removeLast()

{
if(size == 0)
return null;
Node cur;
Node temp;
cur = head;
while(cur != null)
{
temp = cur;
cur = cur.getNext();
}
temp.setNext(null);
return cur;
}
c)

public void removeLast()

{
if(size == 0)
return null;
Node cur;
Node temp;
cur = head;
while(cur != null)
{
cur = cur.getNext();
temp = cur;
}
temp.setNext(null);
 return cur;
}
d)

public void removeLast()

{
if(size == 0)
return null;
Node cur;
Node temp;
cur = head;
while(cur.getNext() != null)
{
cur = cur.getNext();
temp = cur;
}
temp.setNext(null);
return cur;
}
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: Since you have to traverse to the end of the list and delete the last node, you
need two reference pointers. ‘cur’ to traverse all the way and find the last node, and ‘temp’
is a trailing pointer to ‘cur’. Once you reach the end of the list, setNext of ‘temp’ to null, ‘cur’
is not being pointed to by any node, and hence it is available for garbage collection.

5. What is the functionality of the following code?

public void function(Node node)

{
 if(size == 0)
head = node;
else
{
Node temp,cur;
for(cur = head; (temp = cur.getNext())!=null; cur = temp);
cur.setNext(node);
}
size++;
}
a) Inserting a node at the beginning of the list
b) Deleting a node at the beginning of the list
c) Inserting a node at the end of the list
d) Deleting a node at the end of the list
View Answer

Answer: c
Explanation: The for loop traverses through the list and then inserts a new node as
cur.setNext(node);
6. What is the space complexity for deleting a linked list?
a) O(1)
b) O(n)
c) Either O(1) or O(n)
d) O(logn)
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: You need a temp variable to keep track of current node, hence the space
complexity is O(1).
7. How would you delete a node in the singly linked list? The position to be deleted is given.
a)

public void delete(int pos)

{
if(pos < 0)
pos = 0;
if(pos > size)
pos = size;
if( size == 0)
return;
if(pos == 0)
head = head.getNext();
else
{
Node temp = head;
for(int i=1; i<pos; i++)
{
temp = temp.getNext();
}
temp.setNext(temp.getNext().getNext());
}
size--;
}
b)

public void delete(int pos)

{
if(pos < 0)
pos = 0;
 if(pos > size)
pos = size;
if( size == 0)
return;
if(pos == 0)
head = head.getNext();
else
{
Node temp = head;
for(int i=1; i<pos; i++)
{
temp = temp.getNext();
}
temp.setNext(temp.getNext());
}
size--;
}
c)

public void delete(int pos)

{
if(pos < 0)
pos = 0;
if(pos > size)
pos = size;
if( size == 0)
return;
if(pos == 0)
head = head.getNext();
else
 {
Node temp = head;
for(int i=1; i<pos; i++)
{
temp = temp.getNext().getNext();
}
temp.setNext(temp.getNext().getNext());
}
size--;
}
d)

public void delete(int pos)

{
if(pos < 0)
pos = 0;
if(pos > size)
pos = size;
if( size == 0)
return;
if(pos == 0)
head = head.getNext();
else
{
Node temp = head;
for(int i=0; i<pos; i++)
{
temp = temp.getNext();
}
 temp.setNext(temp.getNext().getNext());
}
size--;
}
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: Loop through the list to get into position one behind the actual position given.
temp.setNext(temp.getNext().getNext()) will delete the specified node.

8. Which of these is not an application of a linked list?

a) To implement file systems
b) For separate chaining in hash-tables
c) To implement non-binary trees
d) Random Access of elements
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: To implement file system, for separate chaining in hash-tables and to
implement non-binary trees linked lists are used. Elements are accessed sequentially in
linked list. Random access of elements is not an applications of linked list.
9. Which of the following piece of code has the functionality of counting the number of
elements in the list?
a)

public int length(Node head)

{
int size = 0;
Node cur = head;
while(cur!=null)
{
 size++;
cur = cur.getNext();
}
return size;
}
b)

public int length(Node head)

{
int size = 0;
Node cur = head;
while(cur!=null)
{
cur = cur.getNext();
size++;
}
return size;
}
c)

public int length(Node head)

{
int size = 0;
Node cur = head;
while(cur!=null)
{
size++;
cur = cur.getNext();
}
}
d)

public int length(Node head)

{
int size = 0;
Node cur = head;
while(cur!=null)
{
size++;
cur = cur.getNext().getNext();
}
return size;
}
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: ‘cur’ pointer traverses through list and increments the size variable until the
end of list is reached.

10. How do you insert an element at the beginning of the list?

a)

public void insertBegin(Node node)

{
node.setNext(head);
head = node;
size++;
}
b)

public void insertBegin(Node node)

{
head = node;
node.setNext(head);
size++;
}
c)

public void insertBegin(Node node)

{
Node temp = head.getNext()
node.setNext(temp);
head = node;
size++;
}
d)

public void insertBegin(Node node)

{
Node temp = head.getNext()
node.setNext(temp);
node = head;
size++;
}
View Answer
Answer: a
Explanation: Set the ‘next’ pointer point to the head of the list and then make this new node
as the head.

11. What is the functionality of the following piece of code?

public int function(int data)
{
Node temp = head;
int var = 0;
while(temp != null)
{
if(temp.getData() == data)
{
return var;
}
var = var+1;
temp = temp.getNext();
}
return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
}
a) Find and delete a given element in the list
b) Find and return the given element in the list
c) Find and return the position of the given element in the list
d) Find and insert a new element in the list
View Answer

Answer: c
Explanation: When temp is equal to data, the position of data is returned.
1. The following function reverse() is supposed to reverse a singly linked list. There is one
line missing at the end of the function.

/* Link list node */

struct node
{
int data;
struct node* next;
};

/* head_ref is a double pointer which points to head (or start) pointer

of linked list */
static void reverse(struct node** head_ref)
{
struct node* prev = NULL;
struct node* current = *head_ref;
struct node* next;
while (current != NULL)
{
next = current->next;
current->next = prev;
prev = current;
current = next;
}
/ADD A STATEMENT HERE/
}
What should be added in place of “/ADD A STATEMENT HERE/”, so that the function
correctly reverses a linked list.
a) *head_ref = prev;
b) *head_ref = current;
c) *head_ref = next;
d) *head_ref = NULL;
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: *head_ref = prev; At the end of while loop, the prev pointer points to the last
node of original linked list.
We need to change *head_ref so that the head pointer now starts pointing to the last node.
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2. What is the output of following function for start pointing to first node of following linked
list?

1->2->3->4->5->6
void fun(struct node* start)
{
if(start == NULL)
return;
printf("%d ", start->data);
if(start->next != NULL )
fun(start->next->next);
printf("%d ", start->data);
}
a) 1 4 6 6 4 1
b) 1 3 5 1 3 5
c) 1 2 3 5
d) 1 3 5 5 3 1
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: fun() prints alternate nodes of the given Linked List, first from head to end, and
then from end to head.
If Linked List has even number of nodes, then skips the last node.
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3. The following C function takes a simply-linked list as an input argument. It modifies the
list by moving the last element to the front of the list and returns the modified list. Some part
of the code is left blank. Choose the correct alternative to replace the blank line.

typedef struct node

{
int value;
struct node *next;
}Node;

Node *move_to_front(Node *head)

{
Node *p, *q;
if ((head == NULL: || (head->next == NULL))
return head;
q = NULL; p = head;
while (p-> next !=NULL)
{
q = p;
p = p->next;
}
___________
return head;
}
a) q = NULL; p->next = head; head = p;
b) q->next = NULL; head = p; p->next = head;
c) head = p; p->next = q; q->next = NULL;
d) q->next = NULL; p->next = head; head = p;
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: When while loop completes its execution, node ‘p’ refers to the last node
whereas the ‘q’ node refers to the node before ‘p’ in the linked list. q->next=NULL makes q
as the last node. p->next=head places p as the first node. the head must be modified to ‘p’
as ‘p’ is the starting node of the list (head=p). Thus the sequence of steps are q-
>next=NULL, p->next=head, head=p.
4. The following C function takes a single-linked list of integers as a parameter and
rearranges the elements of the list. The function is called with the list containing the integers
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in the given order. What will be the contents of the list after the function
completes execution?

struct node
{
int value;
struct node *next;
};
void rearrange(struct node *list)
{
struct node *p, * q;
int temp;
if ((!list) || !list->next)
return;
p = list;
q = list->next;
while(q)
{
temp = p->value;
p->value = q->value;
q->value = temp;
p = q->next;
q = p?p->next:0;
}
}
a) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
b) 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5, 7
c) 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 7, 6
d) 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1
View Answer
Answer: b
Explanation: The function rearrange() exchanges data of every node with its next node. It
starts exchanging data from the first node itself.
5. In the worst case, the number of comparisons needed to search a singly linked list of
length n for a given element is?
a) log 2 n
b) n⁄2
c) log 2 n – 1
d) n
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: In the worst case, the element to be searched has to be compared with all
elements of the linked list.
6. Given pointer to a node X in a singly linked list. Only one pointer is given, pointer to head
node is not given, can we delete the node X from given linked list?
a) Possible if X is not last node
b) Possible if size of linked list is even
c) Possible if size of linked list is odd
d) Possible if X is not first node
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: Following are simple steps.
struct node *temp = X->next;
X->data = temp->data;
X->next = temp->next;
free(temp);
7. You are given pointers to first and last nodes of a singly linked list, which of the following
operations are dependent on the length of the linked list?
a) Delete the first element
b) Insert a new element as a first element
c) Delete the last element of the list
d) Add a new element at the end of the list
View Answer

Answer: c
Explanation: Deletion of the first element of the list is done in O (1) time by deleting memory
and changing the first pointer.
Insertion of an element as a first element can be done in O (1) time. We will create a node
that holds data and points to the head of the given linked list. The head pointer was
changed to a newly created node.
Deletion of the last element requires a pointer to the previous node of last, which can only
be obtained by traversing the list. This requires the length of the linked list.
Adding a new element at the end of the list can be done in O (1) by changing the pointer of
the last node to the newly created node and last is changed to a newly created node.
8. In the worst case, the number of comparisons needed to search a singly linked list of
length n for a given element is?
a) log2 n
b) n⁄2
c) log2 n – 1
d) n
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: The worst-case happens if the required element is at last or the element is
absent in the list. For this, we need to compare every element in the linked list. If n elements
are there, n comparisons will happen in the worst case.