Shulou(Shulou.com)06/03 Report--

In this issue, the editor will bring you what are the differences between linked lists and arrays. The article is rich in content and analyzes and narrates it from a professional point of view. I hope you can get something after reading this article.

The array is linear and can be indexed directly, that is, to go to the I element, a [I]. The linked list is also a linear structure, and to take the I element, you only need to use the pointer to traverse it I times. It seems that linked lists are more troublesome and less efficient than arrays.

Thinking of some of the subtle differences in these similarities, their real differences gradually become apparent: why are linked lists less efficient than arrays? Let's start with the initialization of both. The array does not need to be initialized because the elements of the array are in the stack area of memory and the system automatically applies for space. The node elements of the linked list are in the heap area of memory, and each element has to apply for space manually, such as malloc. In other words, arrays allocate memory statically, while linked lists allocate memory dynamically. Why use a linked list when it is so troublesome? Can't arrays completely replace linked lists? To get back to this question, we just need to think about how we completed the student information management system in the first place. Why use linked lists at that time? Because the insert and delete operations in the student management system are very flexible, while the array is fixed in size, it is not flexible and efficient to insert and delete. Because the heap operation is more flexible. Each time the array inserts an element, it needs to move the existing element, while the linked list element is on the heap, so it doesn't have to be so troublesome.

Having said that, the difference between an array and a linked list is as follows:

Array static allocation of memory, linked list dynamic allocation of memory

The array is continuous in memory, but the linked list is discontinuous.

Array elements in the stack area, linked list elements in the stack area

The array is located by subscript, the time complexity is O (1), and the time complexity of linked list positioning elements is O (n).

The time complexity of inserting or deleting elements in an array is O (n), and the time complexity of linked lists is O (1).

These are the differences between linked lists and arrays shared by the editor. If you happen to have similar doubts, you might as well refer to the above analysis to understand. If you want to know more about it, you are welcome to follow the industry information channel.

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