Array of Linked Lists

Array of Linked Lists

An Array of Linked Lists A linked list is defined as a collection of nodes that can be traversed starting at the head node. It is important to note that head is not a node, rather the address of the first node of the list. Linked lists are very useful in situations where the program needs to manage memory very carefully and a contiguous block of memory is not needed. An array of linked lists is an important data structure that can be used in many applications. Conceptually, an array of linked lists looks as follows.

An array of linked list is an interesting structure as it combines a static structure (an array) and a dynamic structure (linked lists) to form a useful data structure. This type of a structure is appropriate for applications, where say for example, number of categories is known in advance, but how many nodes in each category is not known. For example, we can use an array (of size 26) of linked lists, where each list contains words starting with a specific letter in the alphabet.