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Lists Review and Performance

public interface SimpleList {
Object get(int index);
void set(int index, Object value);
Object remove(int index);
void add(int index, Object value);
int size();
}
public class SimpleLinkedList implements SimpleList {
private class Item {
private Object value;
private Item next;
Item(Object setValue, Item setNext) {
value = setValue;
next = setNext;
}
}

Welcome back! In this lesson we’re going to wrap up our discussion of lists. First, we’ll make some forward progress on our linked list implementation. Then, we’ll compare and contrast the two performance of our two approaches.

Warm Up Debugging Challenge
Warm Up Debugging Challenge

But! Let’s warm up with another debugging challenge!

Declare a public class Modifier providing one static method adder. adder takes a single int parameter and returns a method that implements the Modify functional interface:

The returned "function" should implement modify so that it adds the value passed to adder. So, for example:

The correct solution to this problem is a single line lambda expression!

Linked List Remove
Linked List Remove

At this point we can initialize our linked lists and get and set items. But what about add and remove? It’s not a list yet!

Both add and remove require adjusting the linkage to either insert or delete elements. This is tricky! Let’s start with remove. First, let’s look at what needs to happen using a diagram.

OK, now let’s take a stab at this in code!

// SimpleLinkedList remove

Linked List Add
Linked List Add

What about add? We’ll leave that for you to work on… But, to help you get started, let’s diagram it first:

ArrayList v. LinkedList Performance
ArrayList v. LinkedList Performance

Let’s examine the performance tradeoffs of our ArrayList versus our LinkedList.

Now, you might be wondering why anyone would use a linked list, ever! However, there are applications that only ever modify the ends of the list!

For example, consider a help queue. Requests are added at one end and removed from the other. So we are only ever modifying the front or the end of the list.

Modifying the front of a linked list is O(1). But what about the end? Could we make that O(1) too? Sure! Let’s see how.

// Optimizing addToEnd

Note that this approach allows us to implement adding to the end of a linked list in O(1). What about if we also wanted to support efficient removal from the end? We’d need to make one additional change.

Homework: SimpleLinkedList add

Created By: Geoffrey Challen
/ Version: 2020.10.0

Continuing with the SimpleLinkedList class below, complete the code for add. You'll want review the rest of the code to understand how this list implementation works and how to walk a linked list and manipulate the references properly.

public class SimpleLinkedList {
private class Item {
private Object value;
private Item next;
Item(Object setValue, Item setNext) {
value = setValue;
next = setNext;
}
}
private Item start;
private int size;
public SimpleLinkedList(Object[] values) {
assert values != null;
for (int i = values.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
add(0, values[i]);
}
size = values.length;
}
public int size() {
return size;

CS People: Cathy O’Neil
CS People: Cathy O’Neil

Increasingly, important decisions about our lives are being made by algorithms. Whether you get a job. Who you meet, get to know, and fall in love with. When you’re in trouble, whether you get extra help or are left to struggle. If you can get a loan to buy that home, or need to live somewhere else.

Cathy O’Neil has played an important role drawing attention to the ways in which algorithmic decision making is shaping and misshaping our lives. Her foundational book “Weapons of Math Destruction” explores how this topic intersects with multiple aspects of our lives. In the video below, she discusses what we should expect from the increasingly mysteriously algorithms that seem destined to continue to shape our lives:

More Practice

Need more practice? Head over to the practice page.