Linked list

What is a linked list :-

Linked list are the dynamic data structure which is used in such application which need more memory in the run time. These are the group of Structure or object which  have at least one reference variable and a information part which used to store the data that the application required the Reference variable is used to connect the nodes together .That's why the total structure is called as linked list.

Type of Linked list :-

Linked list is categorized mainly in five type according to their properties and the number of reference variable  they have  i) singly linked list  ii) doubly linked list iii) circular linked list iv)hash linking  v) multiply linked list but we can form more type of linked list by combining the properties of above linked list like Circular singly linked list, Sentinel circular doubly linked list etc.

Advantages of Linked list over traditional array :-

Many advantages of linked list are there to overcome the traditional array. Unlike array, linked list can grow up and shrink down over the execution of the program by which the memory of the system can be use efficiently. Insertion and deletion in the linked list is very easy because the node of the linked list are  not stored  in continuous ,Because of this the modification of linked list take less time. linked list use pointer(a special variable which points others variable ) to refer the other nodes. As the pointer are fast that's why retrieving  the  data is faster  in the linked list. Many abstract data type concept like Stack and Queue are easily implemented on the linked list and because of this efficient algorithm can be used to manipulate the data.

Application of Linked list in real life :-

Now a day  linked list are the internal structure of every program that's you used in your daily life. Database management program like ms excel ,ms Access, Oracle  used the linked list structure to store the data in the system because of which user can put powerful queries to retrieve the data. programmes like games and application that  used the application partially at a time also used the concept of linked list structure for efficient use of the memory. Compiler that  use to write program like c ,c++,java etc also stores the initialized value dynamically in the memory. Linked list concept is also used to give  Object oriented  approach to the programme internally.

Some Disadvantages of Linked list :-
Many disadvantages of linked list are their but in today we have the way by which we can overcome this disadvantages. Mainly linked list need more memory to store a data but in today we have more storage space but less time for execution. As all the node are not stored in continuous form that's why the access time of  each node take some time but if we store them in continuous form then insertion deletion process will take more time. Dynamic array is an example of dynamic allocation of continuous memory but here the insertion and deletion process is not efficient at all. Retrieving  a data is hard because we have to search the data continuously from the first node sequentially. but we have a better algorithm for this to search the data easily. Traversing in linked list in backward is difficult but if we used the doubly concept then we can easily traverse the linked list in backward also.

Thanks for reading please give a comment to improve this article.