Linked lists are suitable for frequent insertion and deletion scenarios. Because the linked list node contains data domain and pointer domain, memory does not need to be continuous, and nodes are connected through pointers, so inserting and deleting only requires adjustment of pointers, which is efficient; but access requires sequential search, which is inefficient. Common types include one-way, two-way, and circular linked lists. Application scenarios include implementing stack queues, browser history, operating system memory management, file system, etc. The core advantage is flexibility and efficiency, and the disadvantage is that random access is slow and takes up extra space.
Simply put, a linked list (LinkedList) is a commonly used data structure. It stores data through a group of nodes. Each node contains two parts: one is the data itself and the other is a reference (or pointer) to the next node. Unlike arrays, linked lists are not stored continuously in memory, but are connected by links between nodes.
The basic structure of the linked list
A linked list consists of nodes, each node has at least two parts:
- Data field : used to save the information you want to store, such as a number, string, etc.
- Pointer field : Save the location information of the next node.
To give a simple example, if you have a bunch of keys with each key labeled (data) and also indicate who the next key is (pointer), then the bunch of keys can be regarded as a linked list.
Common linked list types include:
- One-way linked list (each node only points to the next one)
- Bidirectional linked list (node ??points to the previous and the next one at the same time)
- Recycled linked list (the last node points to the first node)
Why use linked lists?
The biggest advantage of linked lists is the high efficiency of insertion and deletion operations . Unlike arrays, you only need to adjust a few pointers.
For example, insert a new node in the middle:
- Find the previous node to insert the location
- Point the pointer of this node to the new node
- The new node points to the original next node
This completes the insertion without moving the data as a whole like an array.
But it should be noted that the access efficiency of linked lists is inefficient . If you want to take the 100th element, you must start from scratch and search them one by one.
Actual use scenarios
Although linked lists seem simple, they are very useful in actual development. for example:
- When implementing stacks and queues, using linked lists is more flexible than arrays
- In the browser's history, the switching of front and back pages is actually the structure of a two-way linked list
- Memory management and file systems in the operating system will also use linked list structure
Many advanced data structures, such as the zipper method implementation of hash tables and the adjacency table representation of graphs, also rely on linked lists.
Let's summarize
The core of a linked list lies in "chain", which does not require continuous memory space and is suitable for scenarios where frequent insertion and deletion are involved. But random access is slow, and the extra space overhead (pointers) cannot be ignored.
Understanding linked lists is very important for learning algorithms and data structures well, especially when learning complex structures such as trees and graphs in the subsequent learning process, the foundation of linked lists will be of great help.
Basically that's it.
The above is the detailed content of What is a LinkedList?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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