Programming Concepts Beginner

What is Linked List?

A linear data structure where elements are stored in nodes, each containing data and a pointer to the next node in the sequence.

Linked lists provide O(1) insertion and deletion at known positions (no shifting needed), but O(n) access by index (must traverse from head). Types include singly linked (forward pointers), doubly linked (forward and backward), and circular.

Use cases include implementing stacks, queues, and hash table collision chains. In practice, arrays/vectors are often faster due to cache locality. Linked lists are fundamental to understanding pointers, memory allocation, and data structure design.

Related Terms

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

A programming paradigm that organizes software design around objects containing data and behavior.

DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself)

A software development principle that aims to reduce code duplication by abstracting common patterns into reusable components.

A bug that occurs when the behavior of software depends on the timing or order of uncontrolled events like thread scheduling.

A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or performing a computation, defined as a finite sequence of instructions.

Two memory regions: the stack stores function call data with automatic cleanup, while the heap stores dynamically allocated objects.

The implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing a quick solution now instead of a better approach that would take longer.

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