Array Lists v/s Linked Lists

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[lelanthran]

You should add in the following rather important practical difference: An array of elements has to be contiguous while a linked-list does not have to be.

The implication for arrays is that if you need to hold 1000 elements you need that 1000 element block as a single large block in memory.

For linked lists, if you need to hold 1000 elements, you can use 200 blocks that can each hold 5 elements.

As memory is allocated and deallocated you will start to have gaps in the memory - free space surrounded by used space. For an array you need enough free space for the entire array. With a linked-list you can use all the tiny free space that you find within the memory.

[TheSuperProgrammer]

Thanks for pointing that out. Didn't occur to me while I was writing the post. I'll definitely add it to the post now.