A linked list and an array are two fundamental data structures, each with distinct characteristics and use cases. Here's a breakdown of their differences:

Structure and Storage

An array stores elements in contiguous memory locations, making it easy to access elements using an index. However, its size is fixed once declared, and resizing requires creating a new array.

A linked list consists of nodes where each node contains data and a reference (or pointer) to the next node. This allows dynamic memory allocation, meaning the size can grow or shrink as needed.

Access Speed

Accessing elements in an array is fast because it uses direct indexing (O(1) time complexity). For example:

In a linked list, accessing an element requires traversing the list from the head node, resulting in slower access (O(n) time complexity). For example: