Explain briefly about the Circular Linked list and its operations.

Circular Linked List

A circular linked list is a variant of the linked list in which the last node's next field points to the first node of the list, thus forming a closed loop. This structure allows for efficient traversal of the list, as there is no need to keep track of the head and tail nodes separately.

Operations on a Circular Linked List:

1. Insertion:

• At the beginning: To insert a new node at the beginning of a circular linked list, follow these steps:

  • Create a new node with the desired data.
  • Update the next field of the new node to point to the current first node.
  • Update the next field of the last node to point to the new node.
  • Update the head pointer to point to the new node.

• At the end: To insert a new node at the end of a circular linked list, follow these steps:

  • Create a new node with the desired data.
  • Traverse the list until you reach the last node.
  • Update the next field of the last node to point to the new node.
  • Update the next field of the new node to point to the first node.

• After a given node: To insert a new node after a given node (node_ptr) in a circular linked list, follow these steps:

  • Create a new node with the desired data.
  • Update the next field of the new node to point to the node after node_ptr.
  • Update the next field of node_ptr to point to the new node.

1. Deletion:

• At the beginning: To delete a node at the beginning of a circular linked list, follow these steps:

  • Store the address of the node to be deleted in a temporary pointer.
  • Update the head pointer to point to the node after the one to be deleted.
  • Update the next field of the last node to point to the new head node.
  • Delete the node pointed to by the temporary pointer.

• At the end: To delete a node at the end of a circular linked list, follow these steps:

  • Traverse the list until you reach the node before the one to be deleted.
  • Update the next field of the node before the one to be deleted to point to the first node.
  • Delete the last node.

• After a given node: To delete a node after a given node (node_ptr) in a circular linked list, follow these steps:

  • Store the address of the node to be deleted in a temporary pointer.
  • Update the next field of node_ptr to point to the node after the one to be deleted.
  • Delete the node pointed to by the temporary pointer.

1. Traversal:

To traverse a circular linked list, start from the head node and keep moving to the next node until you reach the head node again. This can be done using a while loop or a do-while loop.

Advantages of a Circular Linked List:

• Efficient insertion and deletion at any position in the list.
• No need to keep track of the head and tail nodes separately.
• Easy to implement and maintain.

Disadvantages of a Circular Linked List:

• Slightly more complex than a regular linked list.
• Not as commonly used as regular linked lists.