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