Overview

std.DoublyLinkedList

Comprehensive reference for Zig's std.DoublyLinkedList module covering collections and data-structure utilities.
This page syncs automatically from Zig's source: std/DoublyLinkedList.md.

Zig Standard Library Documentation

KeyValue
Modulestd.DoublyLinkedList
Declarations10
Breakdown9 functions · 1 type
Generated (unix epoch)1760148099

Overview

A doubly-linked list has a pair of pointers to both the head and tail of the list. List elements have pointers to both the previous and next elements in the sequence. The list can be traversed both forward and backward. Some operations that take linear O(n) time with a singly-linked list can be done without traversal in constant O(1) time with a doubly-linked list:

  • Removing an element.
  • Inserting a new element before an existing element.
  • Pushing or popping an element from the end of the list.

Table of Contents


Types (1)

Node

Container – This struct contains only the prev and next pointers and not any data

This struct contains only the prev and next pointers and not any data payload. The intended usage is to embed it intrusively into another data structure and access the data with @fieldParentPtr.

pub const Node = struct {
    prev: ?*Node = null,
    next: ?*Node = null,
}

Fields:

FieldTypeDefaultDescription
prev?*Nodenull
next?*Nodenull

Functions (9)

insertAfter

Function – Expand to view signature, parameters, and examples.
pub fn insertAfter(list: *DoublyLinkedList, existing_node: *Node, new_node: *Node) void {
    new_node.prev = existing_node;
    if (existing_node.next) |next_node| {
        // Intermediate node.
        new_node.next = next_node;
        next_node.prev = new_node;
    } else {
        // Last element of the list.
        new_node.next = null;
        list.last = new_node;
    }
    existing_node.next = new_node;
}

Parameters & Return:

NameTypeDescriptionDefault
list*DoublyLinkedList
existing\_node*Node
new\_node*Node
Returnvoid

insertBefore

Function – Expand to view signature, parameters, and examples.
pub fn insertBefore(list: *DoublyLinkedList, existing_node: *Node, new_node: *Node) void {
    new_node.next = existing_node;
    if (existing_node.prev) |prev_node| {
        // Intermediate node.
        new_node.prev = prev_node;
        prev_node.next = new_node;
    } else {
        // First element of the list.
        new_node.prev = null;
        list.first = new_node;
    }
    existing_node.prev = new_node;
}

Parameters & Return:

NameTypeDescriptionDefault
list*DoublyLinkedList
existing\_node*Node
new\_node*Node
Returnvoid

concatByMoving

Function – Concatenate list2 onto the end of list1, removing all entries from the former

Concatenate list2 onto the end of list1, removing all entries from the former.

Arguments: list1: the list to concatenate onto list2: the list to be concatenated

pub fn concatByMoving(list1: *DoublyLinkedList, list2: *DoublyLinkedList) void {
    const l2_first = list2.first orelse return;
    if (list1.last) |l1_last| {
        l1_last.next = list2.first;
        l2_first.prev = list1.last;
    } else {
        // list1 was empty
        list1.first = list2.first;
    }
    list1.last = list2.last;
    list2.first = null;
    list2.last = null;
}

Parameters & Return:

NameTypeDescriptionDefault
list1*DoublyLinkedList
list2*DoublyLinkedList
Returnvoid

append

Function – Insert a new node at the end of the list

Insert a new node at the end of the list.

Arguments: new_node: Pointer to the new node to insert.

pub fn append(list: *DoublyLinkedList, new_node: *Node) void {
    if (list.last) |last| {
        // Insert after last.
        list.insertAfter(last, new_node);
    } else {
        // Empty list.
        list.prepend(new_node);
    }
}

Parameters & Return:

NameTypeDescriptionDefault
list*DoublyLinkedList
new\_node*Node
Returnvoid

prepend

Function – Insert a new node at the beginning of the list

Insert a new node at the beginning of the list.

Arguments: new_node: Pointer to the new node to insert.

pub fn prepend(list: *DoublyLinkedList, new_node: *Node) void {
    if (list.first) |first| {
        // Insert before first.
        list.insertBefore(first, new_node);
    } else {
        // Empty list.
        list.first = new_node;
        list.last = new_node;
        new_node.prev = null;
        new_node.next = null;
    }
}

Parameters & Return:

NameTypeDescriptionDefault
list*DoublyLinkedList
new\_node*Node
Returnvoid

remove

Function – Remove a node from the list

Remove a node from the list.

Arguments: node: Pointer to the node to be removed.

pub fn remove(list: *DoublyLinkedList, node: *Node) void {
    if (node.prev) |prev_node| {
        // Intermediate node.
        prev_node.next = node.next;
    } else {
        // First element of the list.
        list.first = node.next;
    }

    if (node.next) |next_node| {
        // Intermediate node.
        next_node.prev = node.prev;
    } else {
        // Last element of the list.
        list.last = node.prev;
    }
}

Parameters & Return:

NameTypeDescriptionDefault
list*DoublyLinkedList
node*Node
Returnvoid

pop

Function – Remove and return the last node in the list

Remove and return the last node in the list.

Returns: A pointer to the last node in the list.

pub fn pop(list: *DoublyLinkedList) ?*Node {
    const last = list.last orelse return null;
    list.remove(last);
    return last;
}

Parameters & Return:

NameTypeDescriptionDefault
list*DoublyLinkedList
Return?*Node

popFirst

Function – Remove and return the first node in the list

Remove and return the first node in the list.

Returns: A pointer to the first node in the list.

pub fn popFirst(list: *DoublyLinkedList) ?*Node {
    const first = list.first orelse return null;
    list.remove(first);
    return first;
}

Parameters & Return:

NameTypeDescriptionDefault
list*DoublyLinkedList
Return?*Node

len

Function – Iterate over all nodes, returning the count

Iterate over all nodes, returning the count.

This operation is O(N). Consider tracking the length separately rather than computing it.

pub fn len(list: DoublyLinkedList) usize {
    var count: usize = 0;
    var it: ?*const Node = list.first;
    while (it) |n| : (it = n.next) count += 1;
    return count;
}

Parameters & Return:

NameTypeDescriptionDefault
listDoublyLinkedList
Returnusize