LIST ADT

LIST:
       A list is a sequential data structure, ie. a collection of items accessible one after another beginning at the head and ending at the tail.

• It is a widely used data structure for applications which do not need random access
• Addition and removals can be made at any position in the list 
• lists are normally in the form of a₁,a₂,a₃.....a_n. The size of this list is n.The first element of the list is a₁,and the last element is a_n.The position of element a_i in a list is i.
• List of size 0 is called as null list.

 Basic Operations on a List

• Creating a list
• Traversing the list
• Inserting an item in the list
• Deleting an item from the list
• Concatenating two lists into one 

  Implementation of List:

    A list can be implemented in two ways

1. Array list
2. Linked list

 1.Storing a list in a static data structure(Array List)

•  This  implementation stores the list in an array.
• The position of each element is given by an index from 0 to n-1, where n is the number of elements.
• The element with the index can be accessed in constant time (ie) the time to access does not depend on the size of the list.
• The time taken to add an element at the end of the list does not depend on the size of the list. But the time taken to add an element at any other point in the list depends on the size of the list because the subsequent elements must be shifted to next index value.So the additions near the start of the list take longer time than the additions near the middle or end.
• Similarly when an element is removed,subsequent elements must be shifted to the previous index value. So removals near the start of the list take longer time than removals near the middle or end of the list.

Problems with Array implementation of lists:  

• Insertion and deletion are expensive. For example, inserting at position 0 (a new first element) requires first pushing the entire array down one spot to make room, whereas deleting the first element requires shifting all the elements in the list up one, so the worst case of these operations is O(n).
• Even if the array is dynamically allocated, an estimate of the maximum size of the list is required. Usually this requires a high over-estimate, which wastes considerable space. This could be a serious limitation,  if there are many lists of unknown size.
•  Simple arrays are generally not used to implement lists. Because the running time for insertion and deletion is so slow and the list size must be known in advance

2. Storing a list in a dynamic data structure(Linked List)

• The Linked List is stored as a sequence of linked nodes which are not necessarily adjacent in memory.
• Each node in a linked list contains data and a reference to the next node 
• The list can grow and shrink in size during execution of a program.
• The list can be made just as long as required.It does not waste memory space because successive elements are connected by pointers.  
• The position of each element is given by an index from 0 to n-1, where n is the number of elements.
• The time taken to access an element with an index depends on the index because each element of the list must be traversed until the required index is found.
• The time taken to add an element at any point in the list does not depend on the size of the list,as no shifts are required
• Additions and deletion near the end of the list take longer than additions near the middle or start of the list. because the list must be traversed until the required index is found

Array versus Linked Lists


1.Arrays are suitable for 
        - Randomly accessing any element.
        - Searching the list for a particular value
        - Inserting or deleting an element at the end.
2.Linked lists are suitable for 
        -Inserting/Deleting an element.
        -Applications where sequential access is required.
        -In situations where the number of elements cannot be predicted beforehand.