Therefore, it uses an internal linked list, like a singly or doubly linked list to show us the next data. It just puts data pieces one after the other –hence the name – whereas the Linked list uses an internal list with the help of pointers to track the next item. We have already discussed how both storage mechanisms put in data and we can give a term ‘dynamic array’ for the Array list’s internal storage scheme. The pointers are the key elements in locating the data locations in the memory.
We can easily understand that Linked list never stores data sequentially rather, it uses a random storage mechanism. A pointer addresses the memory location of the next data. Here we need two memory locations for storage – one for the data, the other for the pointer. Yes, we can retrieve the next item or data from the next memory location of the array list however, it is stored with the help of pointers in the Linked list. This is perhaps a simpler form of storage – it avoids confusion. The Array list uses a sequential storage, and the pieces of data are stored one after the other. Let’s take a look at how they store data in their memory. These two storage mechanisms place your data in the storage devices and retrieve them when needed. Though there are lots of storage devices, ultimately, they depend on the storage mechanism. Array list and Linked list are common terms when it comes to data storage and retrieval.