LinkedList

Syntax

LinkedList<Type> list = new LinkedList<>();

Examples

import java.util.LinkedList;

LinkedList<String> tasks = new LinkedList<>();
tasks.add("Write code");
tasks.add("Test code");
tasks.add("Deploy code");

System.out.println(tasks);       // [Write code, Test code, Deploy code]
System.out.println(tasks.get(1)); // Test code

import java.util.LinkedList;

LinkedList<Integer> list = new LinkedList<>();
list.add(2);
list.add(3);

list.addFirst(1);  // fast - O(1)
list.addLast(4);    // fast - O(1)

System.out.println(list);  // [1, 2, 3, 4]

list.removeFirst();
System.out.println(list);  // [2, 3, 4]

import java.util.LinkedList;

LinkedList<String> stack = new LinkedList<>();
stack.push("first");
stack.push("second");
stack.push("third");

System.out.println(stack.pop());  // third (last one pushed, comes off first)
System.out.println(stack.pop());  // second
System.out.println(stack);         // [first]

import java.util.LinkedList;
import java.util.Queue;

Queue<String> queue = new LinkedList<>();
queue.offer("first");
queue.offer("second");
queue.offer("third");

System.out.println(queue.poll());  // first (first one added, comes off first)
System.out.println(queue.peek());   // second (look without removing)

Best practices

• Choose LinkedList over ArrayList when your code frequently inserts or removes elements at the beginning or middle of the list
• Choose ArrayList instead when you mostly need fast random access by index - LinkedList access by index is slow (O(n)) since it must walk the chain
• Use LinkedList's Deque methods (push/pop, offer/poll) when you specifically need stack or queue behavior, rather than reimplementing that logic yourself
• Consider ArrayDeque instead of LinkedList for pure stack/queue use cases - it is generally faster and more memory-efficient

At a glance

Purpose

General-purpose application development

File extension

.java

Runs in

Java Virtual Machine

Usually used with

JDK and Java libraries

Specifications & further reading

• Java Language Specification

Related Java documentation