How do I implement arrays and linked lists in programming?

Can you explain how to implement arrays in programming?

Sure! Arrays are a collection of elements stored at contiguous memory locations. In most programming languages, you can declare an array by specifying its type and size. For example, in Python, you can use a list to create an array-like structure.

What about linked lists? How do they differ from arrays?

Linked lists consist of nodes where each node contains data and a reference to the next node. Unlike arrays, linked lists do not require contiguous memory, allowing for dynamic memory allocation.

Can you show me a simple implementation of a linked list in Python?

Certainly! Here's a basic implementation:

class Node:
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data
        self.next = None

class LinkedList:
    def __init__(self):
        self.head = None

    def append(self, data):
        new_node = Node(data)
        if not self.head:
            self.head = new_node
            return
        last = self.head
        while last.next:
            last = last.next
        last.next = new_node

Thanks! How do I traverse a linked list?

To traverse a linked list, you start from the head and follow the next pointers until you reach the end. Here's a simple function to do that:

def traverse(linked_list):
    current = linked_list.head
    while current:
        print(current.data)
        current = current.next