By Douglas W. Clark
Communications of the ACM,
May 1978,
Vol. 21 No. 5, Pages 351-357
10.1145/359488.359491
Comments
An algorithm is presented for copying an arbitrarily linked list structure into a block of contiguous storage locations without destroying the original list. Apart from a fixed number of program variables, no auxillary storage, such as a stack, is used. The algorithm needs no mark bits and operates in linear time. It is shown to be significantly faster than Fisher's algorithm, the fastest previous linear-time algorithm for the same problem. Its speed comes mainly from its efficient list-traversal technique, which folds the processing stack into the structure being built, and from its classification of list cells into nine types, which enables processing operations to be optimized for each type.
The full text of this article is premium content
No entries found
Log in to Read the Full Article
Need Access?
Please select one of the options below for access to premium content and features.
Create a Web Account
If you are already an ACM member, Communications subscriber, or Digital Library subscriber, please set up a web account to access premium content on this site.
Join the ACM
Become a member to take full advantage of ACM's outstanding computing information resources, networking opportunities, and other benefits.
Subscribe to Communications of the ACM Magazine
Get full access to 50+ years of CACM content and receive the print version of the magazine monthly.
Purchase the Article
Non-members can purchase this article or a copy of the magazine in which it appears.
