Circular Linked List in Data Structure

A Circular Linked List is a variation of a linked list in which the last node points back to the first node instead of pointing to None, forming a circular chain.

Types

• Singly Circular Linked List: each node points to the next, and the last node points back to the head.
• Doubly Circular Linked List: each node has both next and previous pointers, and the list forms a loop in both directions.

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

class CircularLinkedList:
    def __init__(self):
        self.head = None

    def append(self, data):
        new_node = Node(data)
        if not self.head:
            self.head = new_node
            new_node.next = self.head
            return
        current = self.head
        while current.next != self.head:
            current = current.next
        current.next = new_node
        new_node.next = self.head

    def traverse(self):
        if not self.head:
            return []
        values = [self.head.data]
        current = self.head.next
        while current != self.head:
            values.append(current.data)
            current = current.next
        return values

Complexity

Applications

• Round-robin CPU scheduling.
• Implementing circular buffers for streaming data.
• Multiplayer turn-based games cycling through players.
• Managing playlists that loop back to the first song.