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 Ruby 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.rb
Replay: real traced execution (multi-file project)
Node = Struct.new(:value, :next)

def render(head)
  parts = []
  cursor = head
  while cursor
    parts << cursor.value.to_s
    cursor = cursor.next
  end
  parts.join(" -> ") + " -> null"
end

head = Node.new(10, Node.new(20, Node.new(30, nil)))
puts render(head)

  1. head ← 10 -> 20 -> 30 -> null

    1Node = Struct.new(:value, :next)
    values this step10 -> 20 -> 30 -> nullhead

  2. output ← 10

    5cursor = head6while cursor7  parts << cursor.value.to_s
    values this step10outputnode(10)cursor

  3. output ← 10 -> 20

    5cursor = head6while cursor7  parts << cursor.value.to_s
    values this step10 -> 20outputnode(20)cursor

  4. output ← 10 -> 20 -> 30 -> null

    5cursor = head6while cursor7  parts << cursor.value.to_s
    values this step10 -> 20 -> 30 -> nulloutputnode(30)cursor

  5. stdout ← 10 -> 20 -> 30 -> null

    1Node = Struct.new(:value, :next)
    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.