CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Linked data structure - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"05f588b4-40bd-4e67-8e5a-26ee934f17e9","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Linked_data_structure","wgTitle":"Linked data structure","wgCurRevisionId":1223696794,"wgRevisionId":1223696794,"wgArticleId":22474945,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["All articles with bare URLs for citations","Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022","Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations","Articles with short description","Short description is different from Wikidata","Abstract data types","Linked lists","Trees (data structures)"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Linked_data_structure","wgRelevantArticleId":22474945,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":8000,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q6554356","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false}; RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","ext.pygments":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","ext.pygments.view","mediawiki.page.media","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.pygments%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.20"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Linked data structure - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_data_structure"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_data_structure"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Linked_data_structure rootpage-Linked_data_structure skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" title="Main menu" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="n-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages"><span>Special pages</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&wmf_medium=sidebar&wmf_campaign=en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Linked+data+structure" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Linked+data+structure" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&wmf_medium=sidebar&wmf_campaign=en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Linked+data+structure" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Linked+data+structure" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Common_types_of_linked_data_structures" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Common_types_of_linked_data_structures"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Common types of linked data structures</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Common_types_of_linked_data_structures-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Common types of linked data structures subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Common_types_of_linked_data_structures-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Linked_lists" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Linked_lists"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1</span> <span>Linked lists</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Linked_lists-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Example_in_Java" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Example_in_Java"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1.1</span> <span>Example in Java</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Example_in_Java-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Example_in_C" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Example_in_C"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1.2</span> <span>Example in C</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Example_in_C-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Example_in_C++" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Example_in_C++"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1.3</span> <span>Example in C++</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Example_in_C++-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Search_trees" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Search_trees"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.2</span> <span>Search trees</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Search_trees-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Advantages_and_disadvantages" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Advantages_and_disadvantages"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Advantages and disadvantages</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Advantages_and_disadvantages-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Advantages and disadvantages subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Advantages_and_disadvantages-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Linked_list_versus_arrays" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Linked_list_versus_arrays"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Linked list versus arrays</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Linked_list_versus_arrays-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-General_disadvantages" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#General_disadvantages"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>General disadvantages</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-General_disadvantages-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Linked data structure</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 6 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-6" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">6 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%84_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B7%D8%A9" title="هياكل البيانات المترابطة – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="هياكل البيانات المترابطة" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C5%99et%C4%9Bzen%C3%A9_datov%C3%A9_struktury" title="Zřetězené datové struktury – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Zřetězené datové struktury" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87%E2%80%8C%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C_%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%B7" title="ساختار داده‌های مرتبط – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="ساختار داده‌های مرتبط" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrutura_de_dados_vinculada" title="Estrutura de dados vinculada – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Estrutura de dados vinculada" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B0_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0" title="Повезана структура података – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Повезана структура података" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%8F%88%E7%B5%90%E6%95%B8%E6%93%9A%E7%B5%90%E6%A7%8B" title="鏈結數據結構 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="鏈結數據結構" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q6554356#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Linked_data_structure" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Linked_data_structure" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Linked_data_structure"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Linked_data_structure"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Linked_data_structure" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Linked_data_structure" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&oldid=1223696794" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Linked_data_structure&id=1223696794&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLinked_data_structure"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLinked_data_structure"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Linked_data_structure&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q6554356" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Set of data records (nodes) linked together and organized by references (links or pointers)</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Not to be confused with <a href="/wiki/Linked_data" title="Linked data">Linked data</a>.</div> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Computer_science" title="Computer science">computer science</a>, a <b>linked data structure</b> is a <a href="/wiki/Data_structure" title="Data structure">data structure</a> which consists of a set of <a href="/wiki/Record_(computer_science)" title="Record (computer science)">data records</a> (<i><a href="/wiki/Node_(computer_science)" title="Node (computer science)">nodes</a></i>) linked together and organized by <a href="/wiki/Reference_(computer_science)" title="Reference (computer science)">references</a> (<i>links</i> or <i><a href="/wiki/Pointer_(computer_programming)" title="Pointer (computer programming)">pointers</a></i>). The link between data can also be called a <b>connector</b>. </p><p>In linked data structures, the links are usually treated as special <a href="/wiki/Data_type" title="Data type">data types</a> that can only be <a href="/wiki/Reference_(computer_science)" title="Reference (computer science)">dereferenced</a> or compared for equality. Linked data structures are thus contrasted with <a href="/wiki/Array_data_structure" class="mw-redirect" title="Array data structure">arrays</a> and other data structures that require performing arithmetic operations on pointers. This distinction holds even when the nodes are actually implemented as elements of a single array, and the references are actually array <a href="/wiki/Array_data_structure" class="mw-redirect" title="Array data structure">indices</a>: as long as no arithmetic is done on those indices, the data structure is essentially a linked one. </p><p>Linking can be done in two ways –  using dynamic allocation and using array index linking. </p><p>Linked data structures include <a href="/wiki/Linked_list" title="Linked list">linked lists</a>, <a href="/wiki/Search_tree" title="Search tree">search trees</a>, <a href="/wiki/Expression_tree" class="mw-redirect" title="Expression tree">expression trees</a>, and many other widely used data structures. They are also key building blocks for many efficient algorithms, such as <a href="/wiki/Topological_sort" class="mw-redirect" title="Topological sort">topological sort</a><sup id="cite_ref-knuth_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-knuth-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Disjoint-set_data_structure" title="Disjoint-set data structure">set union-find</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-galfis_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-galfis-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Common_types_of_linked_data_structures">Common types of linked data structures</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Common types of linked data structures"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Linked_lists">Linked lists</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Linked lists"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>A linked list is a collection of structures ordered not by their physical placement in memory but by logical links that are stored as part of the data in the structure itself. It is not necessary that it should be stored in the adjacent memory locations. Every <a href="/wiki/Structure" title="Structure">structure</a> has a data field and an address field. The Address field contains the address of its <a href="/wiki/Successor_(graph_theory)" class="mw-redirect" title="Successor (graph theory)">successor</a>. </p><p>Linked list can be singly, doubly or multiply linked and can either be linear or circular. </p> <dl><dt>Basic properties</dt></dl> <ul><li>Objects, called <b>nodes</b>, are linked in a linear sequence.</li> <li>A reference to the first node of the list is always kept. This is called the 'head' or 'front'.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="center"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Singly-linked-list.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Singly-linked-list.svg/408px-Singly-linked-list.svg.png" decoding="async" width="408" height="41" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Singly-linked-list.svg/612px-Singly-linked-list.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Singly-linked-list.svg/816px-Singly-linked-list.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="408" data-file-height="41" /></a></span><br /><small><i>A linked list with three nodes contain two fields each: an integer value and a link to the next node</i></small></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-center" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Single_node1.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Single_node1.svg/220px-Single_node1.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="159" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Single_node1.svg/330px-Single_node1.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Single_node1.svg/440px-Single_node1.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="279" data-file-height="202" /></a><figcaption>A linked list with a single node.</figcaption></figure> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Example_in_Java">Example in Java</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Example in Java"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>This is an example of the node class used to store integers in a Java implementation of a linked list: </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-java mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="kd">public</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="kd">class</span> <span class="nc">IntNode</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">{</span> <span class="w"> </span><span class="kd">public</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="kt">int</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">value</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="w"> </span><span class="kd">public</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">IntNode</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">link</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="w"> </span><span class="kd">public</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">IntNode</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="kt">int</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">v</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">{</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">value</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">v</span><span class="p">;</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="p">}</span> </pre></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Example_in_C">Example in C</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Example in C"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>This is an example of the structure used for implementation of linked list in C: </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-c mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="k">struct</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nc">node</span> <span class="p">{</span> <span class="w"> </span><span class="kt">int</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">val</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="w"> </span><span class="k">struct</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nc">node</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">next</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="p">};</span> </pre></div> <p>This is an example using <a href="/wiki/Typedef" title="Typedef">typedefs</a>: </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-c mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="k">typedef</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="k">struct</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nc">node</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">node</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="k">struct</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nc">node</span> <span class="p">{</span> <span class="w"> </span><span class="kt">int</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">val</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="w"> </span><span class="n">node</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">next</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="p">};</span> </pre></div> <p><b>Note:</b> A structure like this which contains a member that points to the same structure is called a self-referential structure. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Example_in_C++"><span id="Example_in_C.2B.2B"></span>Example in C++</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Example in C++"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>This is an example of the node class structure used for implementation of linked list in C++: </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-cpp mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="k">class</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nc">Node</span> <span class="p">{</span> <span class="w"> </span><span class="kt">int</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">val</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="w"> </span><span class="n">Node</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">next</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="p">};</span> </pre></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Search_trees">Search trees</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Search trees"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>A search tree is a tree data structure in whose nodes data values can be stored from some <a href="/wiki/Ordered_set" class="mw-redirect" title="Ordered set">ordered set</a>, which is such that in an in-order traversal of the tree the nodes are visited in ascending order of the stored values. </p> <dl><dt>Basic properties</dt></dl> <ul><li>Objects, called nodes, are stored in an ordered set.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/In-order_traversal" class="mw-redirect" title="In-order traversal">In-order traversal</a> provides an ascending readout of the data in the tree.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Advantages_and_disadvantages">Advantages and disadvantages</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Advantages and disadvantages"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Linked_list_versus_arrays">Linked list versus arrays</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Linked list versus arrays"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Compared to arrays, linked data structures allow more flexibility in organizing the data and in allocating space for it. In arrays, the size of the array must be specified precisely at the beginning, which can be a potential waste of memory, or an arbitrary limitation which would later hinder functionality in some way. A linked data structure is built dynamically and never needs to be bigger than the program requires. It also requires no guessing at creation time, in terms of how much space must be allocated. This is a feature that is key in avoiding wastes of memory. </p><p>In an array, the array elements have to be in a <a href="/w/index.php?title=Contiguity_(computer_science)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Contiguity (computer science) (page does not exist)">contiguous</a> (connected and sequential) portion of memory. But in a linked data structure, the reference to each node gives users the information needed to find the next one. The nodes of a linked data structure can also be moved individually to different locations within physical memory without affecting the logical connections between them, unlike arrays. With due care, a certain <a href="/wiki/Process_(computing)" title="Process (computing)">process</a> or <a href="/wiki/Thread_(computing)" title="Thread (computing)">thread</a> can add or delete nodes in one part of a data structure even while other processes or threads are working on other parts. </p><p>On the other hand, access to any particular node in a linked data structure requires following a chain of references that are stored in each node. If the structure has <i>n</i> nodes, and each node contains at most <i>b</i> links, there will be some nodes that cannot be reached in less than log<sub><i>b</i></sub> <i>n</i> steps, slowing down the process of accessing these nodes - this sometimes represents a considerable slowdown, especially in the case of structures containing large numbers of nodes. For many structures, some nodes may require <a href="/wiki/Best,_worst_and_average_case" title="Best, worst and average case">worst case</a> up to <i>n</i>−1 steps. In contrast, many array data structures allow access to any element with a constant number of operations, independent of the number of entries. </p><p>Broadly the implementation of these linked data structure is through <a href="/wiki/Dynamic_data_structures" class="mw-redirect" title="Dynamic data structures">dynamic data structures</a>. It gives us the chance to use particular space again. Memory can be utilized more efficiently by using these data structures. Memory is allocated as per the need and when memory is not further needed, deallocation is done. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="General_disadvantages">General disadvantages</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: General disadvantages"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Linked data structures may also incur in substantial <a href="/wiki/Dynamic_memory_allocation" class="mw-redirect" title="Dynamic memory allocation">memory allocation</a> overhead (if nodes are allocated individually) and frustrate <a href="/wiki/Virtual_memory" title="Virtual memory">memory paging</a> and <a href="/wiki/Cache_(computing)" title="Cache (computing)">processor caching</a> algorithms (since they generally have poor <a href="/wiki/Locality_of_reference" title="Locality of reference">locality of reference</a>). In some cases, linked data structures may also use more memory (for the link fields) than competing array structures. This is because linked data structures are not contiguous. Instances of data can be found all over in memory, unlike arrays. </p><p>In arrays, nth element can be accessed immediately, while in a linked data structure we have to follow multiple pointers so element access time varies according to where in the structure the element is. </p><p>In some <a href="/wiki/Theoretical_computer_science" title="Theoretical computer science">theoretical models of computation</a> that enforce the constraints of linked structures, such as the <a href="/wiki/Pointer_machine" title="Pointer machine">pointer machine</a>, many problems require more steps than in the unconstrained <a href="/wiki/Random-access_machine" title="Random-access machine">random-access machine</a> model. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_data_structures" title="List of data structures">List of data structures</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-knuth-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-knuth_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Donald_Knuth" title="Donald Knuth">Donald Knuth</a>, <a href="/wiki/The_Art_of_Computer_Programming" title="The Art of Computer Programming">The Art of Computer Programming</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-galfis-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-galfis_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Bernard_A._Galler" class="mw-redirect" title="Bernard A. Galler">Bernard A. Galler</a> and <a href="/wiki/Michael_J._Fischer" title="Michael J. Fischer">Michael J. Fischer</a>. An improved equivalence algorithm. <i><a href="/wiki/Communications_of_the_ACM" title="Communications of the ACM">Communications of the ACM</a>,</i> Volume 7, Issue 5 (May 1964), pages 301–303. The paper originating disjoint-set forests. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=364099.364331">ACM Digital Library</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~hojjat/148s07/lectures/week5/07linked.pdf">http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~hojjat/148s07/lectures/week5/07linked.pdf</a> <sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Bare_URLs" title="Wikipedia:Bare URLs"><span title="A full citation of this PDF document is required to prevent link rot. (March 2022)">bare URL PDF</span></a></i>]</sup></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Data_structures216" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Data_structures" title="Template:Data structures"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Data_structures" title="Template talk:Data structures"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Data_structures" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Data structures"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Data_structures216" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Data_structure" title="Data structure">Data structures</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Types</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Collection_(abstract_data_type)" title="Collection (abstract data type)">Collection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Container_(abstract_data_type)" title="Container (abstract data type)">Container</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Abstract_data_type" title="Abstract data type">Abstract</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Associative_array" title="Associative array">Associative array</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Multimap" title="Multimap">Multimap</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Retrieval_Data_Structure" title="Retrieval Data Structure">Retrieval Data Structure</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_(abstract_data_type)" title="List (abstract data type)">List</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stack_(abstract_data_type)" title="Stack (abstract data type)">Stack</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Queue_(abstract_data_type)" title="Queue (abstract data type)">Queue</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Double-ended_queue" title="Double-ended queue">Double-ended queue</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Priority_queue" title="Priority queue">Priority queue</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Double-ended_priority_queue" title="Double-ended priority queue">Double-ended priority queue</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Set_(abstract_data_type)" title="Set (abstract data type)">Set</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Set_(abstract_data_type)#Multiset" title="Set (abstract data type)">Multiset</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Disjoint-set_data_structure" title="Disjoint-set data structure">Disjoint-set</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Array_(data_structure)" title="Array (data structure)">Arrays</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bit_array" title="Bit array">Bit array</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Circular_buffer" title="Circular buffer">Circular buffer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dynamic_array" title="Dynamic array">Dynamic array</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hash_table" title="Hash table">Hash table</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hashed_array_tree" title="Hashed array tree">Hashed array tree</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sparse_matrix" title="Sparse matrix">Sparse matrix</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Linked</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Association_list" title="Association list">Association list</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Linked_list" title="Linked list">Linked list</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Skip_list" title="Skip list">Skip list</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Unrolled_linked_list" title="Unrolled linked list">Unrolled linked list</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/XOR_linked_list" title="XOR linked list">XOR linked list</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Tree_(data_structure)" class="mw-redirect" title="Tree (data structure)">Trees</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/B-tree" title="B-tree">B-tree</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Binary_search_tree" title="Binary search tree">Binary search tree</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/AA_tree" title="AA tree">AA tree</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/AVL_tree" title="AVL tree">AVL tree</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Red%E2%80%93black_tree" title="Red–black tree">Red–black tree</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Self-balancing_binary_search_tree" title="Self-balancing binary search tree">Self-balancing tree</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Splay_tree" title="Splay tree">Splay tree</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Heap_(data_structure)" title="Heap (data structure)">Heap</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Binary_heap" title="Binary heap">Binary heap</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Binomial_heap" title="Binomial heap">Binomial heap</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fibonacci_heap" title="Fibonacci heap">Fibonacci heap</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/R-tree" title="R-tree">R-tree</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/R*_tree" class="mw-redirect" title="R* tree">R* tree</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/R%2B_tree" title="R+ tree">R+ tree</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hilbert_R-tree" title="Hilbert R-tree">Hilbert R-tree</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trie" title="Trie">Trie</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Hash_tree_(persistent_data_structure)" title="Hash tree (persistent data structure)">Hash tree</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Graph_(abstract_data_type)" title="Graph (abstract data type)">Graphs</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Binary_decision_diagram" title="Binary decision diagram">Binary decision diagram</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Directed_acyclic_graph" title="Directed acyclic graph">Directed acyclic graph</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deterministic_acyclic_finite_state_automaton" title="Deterministic acyclic finite state automaton">Directed acyclic word graph</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_data_structures" title="List of data structures">List of data structures</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&oldid=1223696794">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&oldid=1223696794</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Abstract_data_types" title="Category:Abstract data types">Abstract data types</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Linked_lists" title="Category:Linked lists">Linked lists</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Trees_(data_structures)" title="Category:Trees (data structures)">Trees (data structures)</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_articles_with_bare_URLs_for_citations" title="Category:All articles with bare URLs for citations">All articles with bare URLs for citations</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_bare_URLs_for_citations_from_March_2022" title="Category:Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022">Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_PDF_format_bare_URLs_for_citations" title="Category:Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations">Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 13 May 2024, at 19:37<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Linked_data_structure&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><picture><source media="(min-width: 500px)" srcset="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia.svg" width="25" height="25" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" lang="en" loading="lazy"></picture></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><picture><source media="(min-width: 500px)" srcset="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" width="88" height="31"><img src="/w/resources/assets/mediawiki_compact.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" lang="en" width="25" height="25" loading="lazy"></picture></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-header-container vector-sticky-header-container"> <div id="vector-sticky-header" class="vector-sticky-header"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-start"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-start vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" aria-hidden="true"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-sticky-header-search-toggle" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.vector-sticky-search-form.icon"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </button> </div> <div role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box"> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="vector-sticky-search-form" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia"> <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-sticky-header-toc vector-sticky-header-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-sticky-header-toc-label" for="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar-primary" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="mw-page-title-main">Linked data structure</span></div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-end" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icons"> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-talk-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="talk-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbles mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbles"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-subject-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="subject-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-article mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-article"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-history-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="history-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-history mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-history"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only mw-watchlink" id="ca-watchstar-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="watch-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-star mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-star"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="wikitext-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikiText mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-wikiText"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-ve-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-edit mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-edit"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-viewsource-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-protected-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-editLock mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-editLock"></span> <span></span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-buttons"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet mw-interlanguage-selector" id="p-lang-btn-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-language"></span> <span>6 languages</span> </button> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive" id="ca-addsection-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="addsection-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbleAdd-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbleAdd-progressive"></span> <span>Add topic</span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-end"> <div class="vector-user-links"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mw-portlet mw-portlet-dock-bottom emptyPortlet" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul> </ul> </div> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.eqiad.main-dd5c8cc7b-5d4dh","wgBackendResponseTime":149,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.257","walltime":"0.363","ppvisitednodes":{"value":585,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":15223,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":1653,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":14,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":6,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":14415,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 309.453 1 -total"," 36.11% 111.729 1 Template:Short_description"," 29.35% 90.837 1 Template:Data_structures"," 28.43% 87.970 1 Template:Navbox"," 21.61% 66.885 1 Template:Reflist"," 19.22% 59.479 2 Template:Pagetype"," 16.12% 49.897 1 Template:Bare_URL_PDF"," 13.94% 43.148 1 Template:Fix"," 11.99% 37.107 3 Template:Main_other"," 11.08% 34.282 1 Template:SDcat"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.145","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":2062261,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-api-ext.eqiad.main-df448499c-d6z5t","timestamp":"20250318161648","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Linked data structure","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Linked_data_structure","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q6554356","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q6554356","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2009-04-19T05:20:37Z","dateModified":"2024-05-13T19:37:33Z","headline":"data structure which consists of a set of data records (nodes) linked together and organized by references (links or pointers)"}</script> </body> </html>