About this video
- Video Title: LinkedList - Intro
- Channel: Professor Rosen
- Speakers: Professor Rosen
- Duration: 17:28
Overview
This video introduces the concept of linked lists, explaining their structure, how they differ from ArrayLists, and demonstrating their implementation in code. The speaker uses visual aids and analogies to clarify how nodes are connected and how data is traversed within a linked list.
Key takeaways
- Linked List Structure: A linked list is composed of nodes, where each node contains data and a reference (or pointer) to the next node in the sequence.
- Node Implementation: The
Node class is typically an inner, private class within the linked list class. Each node has a data field and a next field, which points to the subsequent node.
- Memory Allocation: Unlike ArrayLists which can have unused allocated space, linked lists store nodes in scattered memory locations, with each node explicitly pointing to the next. This can lead to higher memory overhead per element due to the extra reference.
- Traversal: A common way to iterate through a linked list is by using a
current node variable, initialized to the head of the list. The loop continues as long as current is not null, and in each iteration, current is updated to current.next.
- Comparison with ArrayList: Linked lists and ArrayLists have complementary strengths and weaknesses. Linked lists excel where ArrayLists are poor, and vice-versa, making the choice dependent on the specific use case and required operations (get, set, add, remove).
