Singly linked list structure in Data Structures Theory - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Singly linked list structure

📖 Scenario: You want to understand how a singly linked list works by building its basic structure step-by-step.Imagine a chain of boxes where each box holds a value and a pointer to the next box.

🎯 Goal: Build a simple singly linked list structure with nodes that hold values and links to the next node.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a node structure with a value and a next pointer

Create a variable to hold the head of the list

Link nodes together to form the list

Add a final pointer to mark the end of the list

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Singly linked lists are used in many software systems to manage ordered data efficiently, such as in music playlists or undo history.

💼 Career

Understanding linked lists is fundamental for software developers and engineers working with data structures and algorithms.

1

Create the node structure

Create a class called Node with an __init__ method that takes a parameter value and sets self.value = value and self.next = None.

Data Structures Theory

# Create the Node class with __init__ method
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Think of each node as a box holding a value and a link to the next box.

2

Create the head of the list

Create a variable called head and set it to None to represent an empty list.

Data Structures Theory

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

# Create the head variable and set it to None
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The head points to the first node or is None if the list is empty.

3

Create and link nodes

Create two nodes called node1 with value 10 and node2 with value 20. Set head to node1 and link node1.next to node2.

Data Structures Theory

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

head = None

# Create node1 and node2, link them, and set head
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Link the first node to the second by setting node1.next to node2.

4

Mark the end of the list

Set node2.next to None to mark the end of the list.

Data Structures Theory

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

head = None

node1 = Node(10)
node2 = Node(20)
head = node1
node1.next = node2

# Set node2.next to None to end the list
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The last node's next pointer should always be None to show the list ends here.