Linked List
Its a data structure - A way to organize and store data in memory.
Remember how arrays organize and store data ? Its done sequentially , lets say we have 10 items in the array , the data is stored sequentially starting from 0th index till 9th . In similar , a random block in the memory[RAM].
Remember - We declare an array in advance and the memory gets allocated in STACK. That will be used to manage/save the data that will be used by the program. This is statically allotted space and you get the asked space even if you use or not.
Imagine - You reserve 5 seats on a bus that cannot be cancelled . Even if there are 5 members or 2 on the day of travel , you pay for what you asked for. Expensive right ? But that's how it works !
Now Lets move to the Linked List .
Imagine a short travel , without a reservation system - We get into a bus , we pay for a single seat . Now the next day i take my friend along with me , i take 2 seat , i pay for 2 .
In the same manner
While creating a Linked list , the basic blocks are Pointers . Pointer represent a variable that points to a memory location in the RAM .
Imagine the pointer as the door that allows us to get into the bus where we get seats for what we pay for.
Thus we create HEAD [just a variable name] pointer that represent the beginning of the linked list.
We save the first data at a reserved memory location and then point that via HEAD , along with that we have another variable called next. Next indicate the next place in memory where data is stored . and thus the list grows on.
Anytime you need to add new data to linked list, you ask a special place in memory called HEAP , via the help of malloc() function. It allocates a new block when ever required.
I shall be adding Notes on Linked list operation via new blogs as next node :) Imaging this as the starting node - Our HEAD node . Drop a comment for more queries.
