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Python Data Structures and Algorithms

You're reading from   Python Data Structures and Algorithms Improve application performance with graphs, stacks, and queues

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Product type Paperback
Published in May 2017
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781786467355
Length 310 pages
Edition 1st Edition
Languages
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Author (1):
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Benjamin Baka Benjamin Baka
Author Profile Icon Benjamin Baka
Benjamin Baka
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Toc

Table of Contents (14) Chapters Close

Preface 1. Python Objects, Types, and Expressions 2. Python Data Types and Structures FREE CHAPTER 3. Principles of Algorithm Design 4. Lists and Pointer Structures 5. Stacks and Queues 6. Trees 7. Hashing and Symbol Tables 8. Graphs and Other Algorithms 9. Searching 10. Sorting 11. Selection Algorithms 12. Design Techniques and Strategies 13. Implementations, Applications, and Tools

Finding endpoints


We have created three nodes: one containing eggs, one ham, and another spam. The eggs node points to the ham node, which in turn points to the spam node. But what does the spam node point to? Since this is the last element in the list, we need to make sure its next member has a value that makes this clear.

If we make the last element point to nothing then we make this fact clear. In python, we will use the special value None to denote nothing:

The last node has its next point pointing to None. As such it is the last node in the chain of nodes.

Node

Here is a simple node implementation of what we have discussed so far:

    class Node: 
        def __init__(self, data=None): 
            self.data = data 
            self.next = None 

Note

Do not confuse the concept of a node with Node.js, a server-side technology implemented in JavaScript.

The next pointer is initialized to None, meaning that unless you change the value of next, the node is going to be an end-point. This is a good...

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