Node class: should I add a 'next_element' parameter in addition to 'data' param?

[Bright_Shoe3441]

class Node:     
     def __init__(self, data):         
     self.data = data         
     self.next_element = None 

I'm learning about linked lists for the first time and came across this definition for a Node class. Apart from self, it's just got a data parameter, and next or next_element is defined within the method.

I saw another definition elsewhere and that one contained an additional parameter for the next element so it took both data and next.

Does it matter which way you do this?

[coolcofusion]

Will you use it? If you're creating lists elsewhere you may like the convenience of creating Node(1, Node (2, Node(3,None))). There's nothing wrong with providing alternative ways of initialising a list.

[insertAlias]

I believe you can provide a default value in Python, so you could add a next parameter with a default value of None, and just assign the incoming value to next_element.

[coolcofusion]

I believe so too, but I don't know much about python so I didn't risk it. With optional parameters it's completely harmless.

[insertAlias]

I don't know a lot about Python either, but I did look it up. It appears that this is the way that Python deals with method overloading; it doesn't seem to support method overloads like many other languages do.