Functionality of Linked Lists
I understand the mechanics of simple linked lists, but the only functionality for them that I have seen exemplified is that of sorting values(e.g., input 13, 4, 8, output 4,8,13). I know that there must be some much more powerful function that LL's can serve, but what?
Thanks.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
-Goethe
[paraphrased] "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither."
-Benjamin Franklin
They are great for things that dynamically resize themselves, like strings that can grow, shrink, be cut up, etc.
Oh okay, cool, but could you possibly explain what you mean by "cutting up" strings? Thanks.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
-Goethe
[paraphrased] "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither."
-Benjamin Franklin
Parsing a string. I.e. taking "This is a string" and turning it into several strings. ("This", "This is a", Thi", "a stri" etc)
“Focused, hard work is the real key to success. Keep your eyes on the goal, and just keep taking the next step towards completing it. " -John Carmack
Ahh yes I had suspected that one could do this, but how exactly?
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
-Goethe
[paraphrased] "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither."
-Benjamin Franklin
dont you think your are jumping from one topic to the other...Originally posted by MisterWonderful
Answerinf your original questions:-
Linked lists are used in Databases in the form as B Trees or B+ trees... Without them the database would be really slow... Now dont ask him how B trees are used in Databases
Haha sorry I suppose I am too curious for my own good
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
-Goethe
[paraphrased] "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither."
-Benjamin Franklin
>I suppose I am too curious for my own good
There's no such thing when it comes to computers. But if you haven't worked with linked data structures much, you'll have a lot of trouble with B-trees. So I agree with vasanth.
To answer your original question you would use a variant of a linked list if you need a data structure that can grow and shrink efficiently from anywhere in the data set, can be restructured with minimal effort, and (usually, but not always) can be searched efficiently.
My best code is written with the delete key.
