Linked List Comparison

Big Table

Structure	Forward Move	Backward Move	Insert Front	Insert End	Delete Front	Delete End	Search
Singly Linked List	Yes	No	O(1)	O(n)	O(1)	O(n)	O(n)
Doubly Linked List	Yes	Yes	O(1)	O(1) with tail	O(1)	O(1) if node/tail known	O(n)
Circular Linked List	Yes, in loop	No by default	O(1) with tail	O(1) with tail	O(1) with tail	O(n)	O(n)

Easy Comparison

Singly Linked List

• simplest
• one pointer per node
• cannot move backward

Doubly Linked List

• can move both directions
• easier deletion of known node
• uses more memory

Circular Linked List

• last node joins back to first
• useful for repeating cycles
• very handy in round-robin systems

Which One Should You Pick?

Choose Singly Linked List if:

• you want the simplest structure
• memory saving matters more

Choose Doubly Linked List if:

• you need backward movement
• deletion of a known node should be easy

Choose Circular Linked List if:

• the process repeats in cycles
• you want to keep rotating through items

Linked Lists Vs Arrays

Feature	Linked List	Array
Random access	Slow	Fast
Insert/delete in middle after locating node	Easy	Costly
Memory layout	Non-contiguous	Contiguous
Extra pointer space	Yes	No