Doubly linked list Overflow condition

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Recursive and Doubly Linked Lists
Lecture 9

Steven S. Skiena

Recursive List Implementation

The basic insertion and deletion routines for linked lists are more elegantly written using recursion.

PROCEDURE Insert(VAR list: T; value:INTEGER) = (* inserts new element in list and maintains order *) VAR new: T; (*new node*) BEGIN IF list = NIL THEN list:= NEW(T, key := value) (*list is empty*) ELSIF value < list.key THEN (*proper place found: insert*) new := NEW(T, key := value); new.next := list; list := new; ELSE (*seek position for insertion*) Insert(list.next, value); END; (*IF list = NIL*) END Insert; PROCEDURE Remove(VAR list:T; value:INTEGER; VAR found:BOOLEAN) = (* deletes (first) element with value from sorted list, or returns false in found if the element was not found *) BEGIN IF list = NIL THEN (*empty list*) found := FALSE ELSIF value = list.key THEN (*elemnt found*) found := TRUE; list := list.next ELSE (*seek for the element to delete*) Remove(list.next, value, found); END; END Remove;

Doubly Linked Lists

Often it is necessary to move both forward and backwards along a linked list. Thus we need another pointer from each node, to make it doubly linked.

List types are analogous to dance structures:

• Conga line - singly linked list.
• Chorus line - doubly linked list.
• Hora circle - double linked circular list.

Extra pointers allow the flexibility to have both forward and backwards linked lists:

type pointer = REF node; node = record info : item; front : pointer; back : pointer; end;

Insertion

How do we insert p between nodes q and r in a doubly linked list?

p^.front = r; p^.back = q; r^.back = p; q^.front = p;

It is not absolutely necessary to have pointer r, since r = q .front, but it makes it cleaner.

The boundary conditions are inserting before the first and after the last element.

How do we insert before the first element in a doubly linked list (head)?

p^.back = NIL; p^.front = head; head^.back = p; head = p; (* must point to entire structure *)

Inserting at the end is similar, except head doesn't change, and a back pointer is set to NIL.

Linked Lists: Pro or Con?

The advantages of linked lists include:

• Overflow can never occur unless the memory is actually full.
• Insertions and deletions are easier than for contiguous (array) lists.
• With large records, moving pointers is easier and faster than moving the items themselves.

The disadvantages of linked lists include:

• The pointers require extra space.
• Linked lists do not allow random access.
• Time must be spent traversing and changing the pointers.
• Programming is typically trickier with pointers.

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Steve Skiena
Thu Sep 25 19:29:15 EDT 1997