Is linked list important for coding interviews?
IntroductionThe linked list is one of the most important concepts and data structures to learn while preparing for interviews. Having a good grasp of Linked Lists can be a huge plus point in a coding interview. A Linked List is a linear data structure. Unlike arrays, the elements are not stored at contiguous locations. The linked list nodes are linked using pointers. Each node consists of 2 parts:
Applications of Linked List in the field of Computer Science:1) Dynamic Memory Allocation: As we know, we can dynamically allocate memory in a linked list, so it can be very helpful when we dont know the number of elements we are going to use. Applications of Linked List in real world1) In web browsers, you might have seen that we can always access the previous and next URL using the back and forward button. Access to previous and next URL searched is possible because they are linked using a linked list. Circular linked lists also have good usage. A circular linked list is a linked list in which the last node points to the head instead of pointing to NULL. Applications of Circular Linked Lists1) We can use Circular Linked List to implement advanced data structures like Fibonacci Heap.
Lets also see some advantages of linked list over arrays:Advantages of Linked List 2) No Memory Wastage: As the size of a linked list can grow or shrink at runtime, so there is no memory wastage. Only the required memory is allocated. In arrays, we have to first initialize it with a size which we may or may not fully use; hence wastage of memory may occur. 3) Implementation: Some very helpful data structures like queues and stacks can easily be implemented using a Linked List. 4) Insertion and Deletion Operation: In a Linked List, insertion and deletion operations are quite easy, as there is no need to shift every element after insertion or deletion.
So, in this article, we have learned about the applications of linked lists. Linked List is a very important topic when it comes to coding interviews. If you want to solve more questions on Linked List, which are curated by our expert mentors at PrepBytes, you can follow this link Linked List. |