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How to Build a Linked List in JavaScript
Whether you think about them or not, data structures are an important part of all of our lives. They are found in both the man-made world and in nature. While uniquely beautiful and interesting when found in nature, data structures are absolutely critical in computer science and algorithm design. Having a strong command of data structures will put you in a great position to succeed in your use case.
Linked Lists
The linked list data structure is one of the more interesting data structures found in computer science. While it has its own limitations, the linked list is very useful when you need a sequentially organized group of items and efficient insertion and deletion. A linked list is comprised of nodes that are “chained” together. Each node contains a piece of data and a pointer to the next node in the sequence. There are other variations of the linked list that have pointers to multiple other nodes, but we’ll focus on the singly linked list.
If you’re looking for a real-world example of a linked list, you may find it a bit difficult to find anything obvious and immediate. Linked lists are a bit of a man-made abstraction, but the best analogy I could think of is that linked lists are like neurons.
In the human body, neurons are interconnected throughout the body and send signals to and from your brain. They often chain together sequentially in a “neural circuit” to relay nerve impulses over longer distances of the body. This chaining to send signals from one neuron to the next is analogous to how a linked list works.
Efficiency
Efficiency is always an important consideration when dealing with data structures and linked lists are no exception. Whether you’re designing an algorithm for an interview or an application, you’ll need to choose the right data structure to use for your situation.
The efficiency of data structures is typically defined in terms of time and space complexity, and it’s often described using Big O notation. To get an idea of the different data structures and their efficiencies, check out this popular…
