Sorted insert for circular linked listCircular linked lists are linked data structures in which the last node returns to the first node, forming a circular loop. This circular connectivity allows the traversal of the list in a circular manner indefinitely. Circular linked lists find use cases in several applications, such as buffer implementations, representing cyclic data, and more. Inserting a new node in a sorted circular linked list requires locating the correct insertion point while preserving circular connectivity. This article will look at implementing sorted insert operation on circular linked lists in Python. The sorted insert algorithm involves traversing the list starting from the head node while comparing the node data to find the proper place for inserting the new node. What is a Circular Linked List?A circular linked list is a variation of a linked list in which the last node points back to the first node, forming a circular loop. This makes the traversal of the list possible indefinitely without ever reaching the end. For example: Here, we create a CircularLinkedList object and three Node objects holding data 1, 2 and 3.
Output: 1 2 3 The main benefit of a circular linked list is that we can traverse the list continuously, which is helpful in cases like ring buffers. We also avoid exceptional circumstances for handling the end of the list. The disadvantage is that inserting and deleting nodes requires more care to maintain the circular structure. Python ProgramOutput: 1 3 5 7 9 10 Explanation The program has two classes - Node and CircularLinkedList. Node class is simple - it just stores data and a next pointer. CircularLinkedList class contains:
The sortedInsert() method first checks if the list is empty. If yes, it makes the new node as head. Then, it checks if the new node should become head. This will happen if the new node's data exceeds the current head's. In this case, we traverse to the end, connect the back to the new node, and the new node to the original head. Finally, if the new node is to be inserted in between, we traverse until we find a node with higher data. Insert a new node before this node. Main
This performs step-wise sorted insertion in the circular linked list by handling all cases like empty list, new head insertion, and intermediate insertion. The traversal handles go around the circular list correctly, checking for the heads while traversing. |