Doubly

Linked Lists

OBJECTIVES

  • Construct a Doubly Linked List
  • Compare and contrast Doubly and Singly Linked Lists
  • Implement basic operations on a Doubly Linked List

We know what lists are...

but doubly?

Almost identical to Singly Linked Lists, except every node has another pointer, to the previous node!

Doubly Linked Lists

null

null

next

next

next

prev

prev

prev

12

9

5

14

Comparisons with

Singly Linked Lists

More memory === More Flexibility

It's almost always a tradeoff!

PUSHING

Adding a node to the end of the Doubly Linked List

Pushing pseudocode

Let's visualize this!

  • Create a new node with the value passed to the function
  • If the head property is null set the head and tail to be the newly created node 
  • If not, set the next property on the tail to be that node
  • Set the previous property on the newly created node to be the tail
  • Set the tail to be the newly created node
  • Increment the length
  • Return the Doubly Linked List

YOUR

TURN

POPPING

Removing a node from the end of the Doubly Linked List

Popping pseudocode

  • If there is no head, return undefined
  • Store the current tail in a variable to return later
  • If the length is 1, set the head and tail to be null
  • Update the tail to be the previous Node.
  • Set the newTail's next to null
  • Decrement the length
  • Return the value removed

YOUR

TURN

SHIFTING

Removing a node from the beginning of the Doubly Linked List

Shifting pseudocode

Let's visualize this!

  • If length is 0, return undefined
  • Store the current head property in a variable (we'll call it old head)
  • If the length is one
    • set the head to be null
    • set the tail to be null
  • Update the head to be the next of the old head
  • Set the head's prev property to null
  • Set the old head's next to null
  • Decrement the length
  • Return old head

YOUR

TURN

UNSHIFTING

Adding a node to the beginning of the Doubly Linked List

Unshifting pseudocode

  • Create a new node with the value passed to the function
  • If the length is 0
    • Set the head to be the new node
    • Set the tail to be the new node
  • Otherwise
    • Set the prev property on the head of the list to be the new node
    • Set the next property on the new node to be the head property 
    • Update the head to be the new node
  • Increment the length
  • Return the list

YOUR

TURN

GET

Accessing a node in a Doubly Linked List by its position

Get Pseudocode

Let's visualize this!

  • If the index is less than 0 or greater or equal to the length, return null
  • If the index is less than or equal to half the length of the list
    • Loop through the list starting from the head and loop towards the middle
    • Return the node once it is found
  • If the index is greater than half the length of the list
    • ​Loop through the list starting from the tail and loop towards the middle
    • Return the node once it is found

YOUR

TURN

SET

Replacing the value of a node to the in a Doubly Linked List

Set pseudocode

Let's visualize this!

  • Create a variable which is the result of the get method at the index passed to the function
    • If the get method returns a valid node, set the value of that node to be the value passed to the function
    • Return true
  • Otherwise, return false

YOUR

TURN

INSERT

Adding a node in a Doubly Linked List by a certain position

Insert pseudocode

Let's visualize this!

  • If the index is less than zero or greater than or equal to the length return false
  • If the index is 0, unshift
  • If the index is the same as the length, push
  • Use the get method to access the index -1
  • Set the next and prev properties on the correct nodes to link everything together
  • Increment the length 
  • Return true

YOUR

TURN

REMOVE

Removing a node in a Doubly Linked List by a certain position

Remove pseudocode

Let's visualize this!

  • If the index is less than zero or greater than or equal to the length return undefined
  • If the index is 0, shift
  • If the index is the same as the length-1, pop
  • Use the get method to retrieve the item to be removed
  • Update the next and prev properties to remove the found node from the list
  • Set next and prev to null on the found node
  • Decrement the length
  • Return the removed node.

YOUR

TURN

Reverse

Reversing a Doubly Linked List in place!

Reverse pseudocode

Let's visualize this!

  • Create a variable called current and set it to be the head of the list
  • Create a variable called tail and set it to be the head of the list
  • Loop through the list and set the next property of the current node to be the prev property of the current node
  • If there is no next property, set the tail to be the head and the head to be the current variable
  • Return the list

YOUR

TURN

Big O

of Doubly Linked Lists

Insertion -   O(1)

Removal -   O(1)

Searching -   O(N)

Access -   O(N)

Technically searching is O(N / 2), but that's still O(N)

RECAP!

  • Doubly Linked Lists are almost identical to Singly Linked Lists except there is an additional pointer to previous nodes
  • Better than Singly Linked Lists for finding nodes and can be done in half the time!
  • However, they do take up more memory considering the extra pointer
  • Doubly linked lists are used to implement other data structures and certain types of caches