Arrays Linked Lists Questions Long
To search for an element in a linked list using iteration, you can follow the steps outlined below:
1. Start at the head of the linked list.
2. Initialize a pointer variable, let's call it "current," to point to the head node.
3. Iterate through the linked list by moving the "current" pointer to the next node until either the element is found or the end of the list is reached.
4. At each iteration, compare the value of the current node with the target element you are searching for.
5. If the current node's value matches the target element, the search is successful, and you can return the current node or any other relevant information.
6. If the current node's value does not match the target element, move the "current" pointer to the next node and repeat step 4.
7. Continue this process until either the target element is found or the end of the linked list is reached (i.e., the "current" pointer becomes null).
8. If the end of the linked list is reached without finding the target element, the search is unsuccessful, and you can return an appropriate indication (e.g., null or -1) to signify that the element was not found.
It is important to note that the time complexity of searching for an element in a linked list using iteration is O(n), where n is the number of nodes in the linked list. This is because, in the worst-case scenario, you may need to iterate through all the nodes in the list to find the target element.