Though you will rarely (if ever) be asked to implement a data structure from scratch, having solid knowledge and understanding of the various data structures and ideal use cases can help you ace a technical interview (and get into your dream tech job).
Participants will be able to:
- Implement various types of linked lists.
- Understand which portions of linked lists are already implemented in JavaScript.
- Implement their own linked lists under the correct circumstances.
- What is a linked list
- What are the basic characteristics of a linked list
- Why would a linked list be used instead of an array?
- What other data structures are similar to linked lists?
- What is the difference between a singly-linked list and a doubly linked list
- Why would a singly linked list be used instead of a doubly linked list?
- How to recognize linked lists when you see them
- How to know when to use linked lists to solve a problem.
- Linked lists in different versions of JavaScript.
Create a file named "node.js" and create a Node class like the one below but give each Node a 'text' attribute.
// Declare a Node() function that we will use to instantiate new Node objects.
function Node(data) {
this.data = data;
this.next = null;
}
// Declare a SinglyLinkedList() function that we will use as a basis for our singly-linked list.
function SinglyLinkedList() {
this._length = 0;
this.head = null;
}
// Use JavaScript prototyping to give the SinglyLinkedList class new public methods.
SinglyLinkedList.prototype.add = function (value) {
let node = new Node(value),
currentNode = this.head;
// If the list is empty (has no head value)
if (!currentNode) {
this.head = node;
this._length++;
return node;
}
// Loop over all nodes that have a value in their "next" property.
// This loop ends when it reaches a node that has no value in the "next" property.
// We use this to determine the "last" node of the singly linked list.
while (currentNode.next) {
currentNode = currentNode.next;
}
// We can now add our node to the end of the list by storing it in the "next" of the node we determined was last in the list.
currentNode.next = node;
// We need to increment the length of the list now that we've added a new node.
this._length++;
return node;
};
SinglyLinkedList.prototype.findByPosition = function (position) {
let currentNode = this.head,
length = this._length,
count = 1,
message = { failure: 'Failure: non-existent node in this list.' };
// Catch the possibility that a position that doesn't exist was provided.
if (length === 0 || position < 1 || position > length) {
throw new Error(message.failure);
}
// Loop over all nodes until the node before the desired position
while (count < position) {
// Pull the "next" node object from the node based on the count
currentNode = currentNode.next;
count++;
}
// Because our loop stopped at the position before, our "currentNode" value is correctly set.
return currentNode;
};
SinglyLinkedList.prototype.remove = function (position) {
let currentNode = this.head,
length = this._length,
count = 0,
message = { failure: 'Failure: non-existent node in this list.' },
beforeNodeToDelete = null,
nodeToDelete = null,
deletedNode = null;
// Catch the possibility that a position that doesn't exist was provided.
if (position < 0 || position > length) {
throw new Error(message.failure);
}
// Only run when the first node is being removed.
if (position === 1) {
this.head = currentNode.next;
deletedNode = currentNode;
currentNode = null;
this._length--;
return deletedNode;
}
// Remaining logic that is run when any node is being removed.
while (count < position) {
beforeNodeToDelete = currentNode;
nodeToDelete = currentNode.next;
count++;
}
beforeNodeToDelete.next = nodeToDelete.next;
deletedNode = nodeToDelete;
nodeToDelete = null;
this._length--;
return deletedNode;
};Make sure to mention these things:
- Common data structures in interviews (hash tables, binary search trees, etc.)
- Most blockchains are built on some implementation of the Merkle tree data structure patented by Ralph Merkle (check out his site -> merkle.com for more info if you're into cryptography)
- Different ways of applying and/or updating attributes
- Constructors
- Different ways of applying attributes
- How to define methods on a class in ES6
- Traversing a LinkedList
- How to remove Nodes
While traversing a singly-linked list, it is imperative that you stop BEFORE the actual node that you want to remove, as there is no going backwards to the "previous" node.
Adding/removing items is usually faster than more complex data structures.
Searching/iteration can be slower/cumbersome since every node only references the "next" node in the list.
The DOM is a kind of Linked List. Our HTML elements are contained within parent elements and there is a last and first element to every HTML document.
Other (tradeoffs when using linked lists)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_list#Tradeoffs] as detailed by Wikipedia.
Create a method to add a node to the end of the Linked List and a method to delete a node with the text attribute matching the given string.
Create a method to add a new node after the node with the text attribute matching the given string.
See Testing and TDD for a refresher on how to use Mocha and Chai to write tests.
Create a file called "LinkedList_test.js" and write tests for each of your methods using Mocha and Chai be sure to include:
const LinkedList = require('./linkedlist.js');- Summarize what you have learnt about linked lists. What are the basic features of linked lists?
- What are some of the common misconceptions in using linked lists?
- Draw single, double, multiple, and circular linked list diagrams, and compare with a fellow group member.