Linked Structures

Traverse and Print

Walk from the head pointer to null, visiting each node exactly once without random indexing.

Algorithm

The replay labels nodes by value, such as node(20), and never exposes object identity or memory addresses. This C DSA implementation uses the same small chain as the rest of the DSA track.

cursor A cursor reference names the node currently being visited.
null stop Traversal ends when the cursor reaches the null marker.

Basic Implementation

basic.c
Replay: real traced execution (multi-file project)
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

typedef struct Node {
    int value;
    struct Node* next;
} Node;

Node* node(int value, Node* next) {
    Node* n = malloc(sizeof(Node));
    n->value = value;
    n->next = next;
    return n;
}

void print_chain(Node* head) {
    Node* cursor = head;
    while (cursor != NULL) {
        printf("%d -> ", cursor->value);
        cursor = cursor->next;
    }
    printf("null\n");
}

int main(void) {
    Node* head = node(10, node(20, node(30, NULL)));
    print_chain(head);
    return 0;
}

  1. head ← 10 -> 20 -> 30 -> null

    1#include <stdio.h>2#include <stdlib.h>
    values this step10 -> 20 -> 30 -> nullhead

  2. output ← 10

    17Node* cursor = head;18while (cursor != NULL) {19    printf("%d -> ", cursor->value);
    values this step10outputnode(10)cursor

  3. output ← 10 -> 20

    17Node* cursor = head;18while (cursor != NULL) {19    printf("%d -> ", cursor->value);
    values this step10 -> 20outputnode(20)cursor

  4. output ← 10 -> 20 -> 30 -> null

    17Node* cursor = head;18while (cursor != NULL) {19    printf("%d -> ", cursor->value);
    values this step10 -> 20 -> 30 -> nulloutputnode(30)cursor

  5. stdout ← 10 -> 20 -> 30 -> null

    16void print_chain(Node* head) {17    Node* cursor = head;
    values this step10 -> 20 -> 30 -> nullstdout10 -> 20 -> 30 -> nulloutput

Complexity

  • Time: O(n)
  • Space: O(1)

Implementation notes

  • Keep the explicit node and pointer/reference operations; array shortcuts hide the linked-list state this lesson is meant to replay.
  • The final output prints the chain in a deterministic a -> b -> null form for cross-language comparison.