Last Updated : 26 Mar 2026

Java LinkedList is used to store and manage a collection of data where frequent insertion and deletion of elements are required.

In Java, arrays have a fixed size and are not efficient for adding or removing elements. To solve this problem, LinkedList provides a dynamic data structure where elements can be easily inserted or deleted without shifting other elements.

What is Java LinkedList?

Java LinkedList is a class that implements a doubly linked list data structure. It is part of the Java Collections Framework and is used to store elements dynamically.

Unlike arrays, LinkedList does not store elements in continuous memory. Instead, it stores elements as nodes, where each node contains:

• The actual data
• A reference to the next node
• A reference to the previous node

This makes insertion and deletion operations faster and more efficient.

The LinkedList class:

• Extends the AbstractList class
• Implements the List and Deque interfaces

LinkedList can be used in multiple ways such as:

• List
• Stack
• Queue

It also allows duplicate elements, maintains insertion order, and can grow or shrink dynamically based on the data.

LinkedList Class Declaration

LinkedList is a class that maintains insertion order and allows duplicate elements. It provides methods to add, remove, and access elements in the list.

It also implements the Deque interface, which means it supports operations at both ends (beginning and end) like adding or removing elements.

Let's see the declaration of the java.util.LinkedList class:

Constructors of Java LinkedList

The LinkedList class provides constructors to create linked list objects in different ways.

• You can create an empty LinkedList
• You can create a LinkedList from another collection

1. LinkedList()

This constructor is used to create an empty LinkedList.

Here is the syntax:

2. LinkedList(Collection c)

This constructor is used to create a LinkedList containing elements from another collection. The elements are added in the same order as the collection.

Here is the syntax:

Methods of LinkedList Class

The following table shows the commonly used methods of the LinkedList class:

Traversing LinkedList Elements

You can create a LinkedList and traverse its elements using an iterator.

Example

Let's see a simple example to traverse LinkedList elements.

Output:

Adding Elements to LinkedList

You can add elements to a LinkedList by using different ways like add(E e), add(int index, E element), addAll(Collection c), addAll(int index, Collection c), addFirst(E e), and addLast(E e) methods.

Example

Let's see a simple example to add elements in different ways.

Output:

Initial list of elements: []
After invoking add(E e) method: [Ravi, Vijay, Ajay]
After invoking add(int index, E element) method: [Ravi, Gaurav, Vijay, Ajay]
After invoking addAll(Collection c) method:
[Ravi, Gaurav, Vijay, Ajay, Sonoo, Hanumat]
After invoking addAll(int index, Collection c) method:
[Ravi, John, Rahul, Gaurav, Vijay, Ajay, Sonoo, Hanumat]
After invoking addFirst(E e) method:
[Lokesh, Ravi, John, Rahul, Gaurav, Vijay, Ajay, Sonoo, Hanumat]
After invoking addLast(E e) method:
[Lokesh, Ravi, John, Rahul, Gaurav, Vijay, Ajay, Sonoo, Hanumat, Harsh]

Removing Elements from LinkedList

The LinkedList elements can be removed by using different methods like remove(Object o), remove(int index), removeAll(Collection c), removeFirst(), removeLast(), removeFirstOccurrence(Object o), removeLastOccurrence(Object o), and clear().

Example

Let's see a simple example to remove elements.

Output:

Initial list of elements: [Ravi, Vijay, Ajay, Anuj, Gaurav, Harsh, Virat, Gaurav, Harsh, Amit]
After invoking remove(object) method: [Ravi, Ajay, Anuj, Gaurav, Harsh, Virat, Gaurav, Harsh, Amit]
After invoking remove(index) method: [Ajay, Anuj, Gaurav, Harsh, Virat, Gaurav, Harsh, Amit]
Updated list : [Ajay, Anuj, Gaurav, Harsh, Virat, Gaurav, Harsh, Amit, Ravi, Hanumat]
After invoking removeAll() method: [Ajay, Anuj, Gaurav, Harsh, Virat, Gaurav, Harsh, Amit]
After invoking removeFirst() method: [Gaurav, Harsh, Virat, Gaurav, Harsh, Amit]
After invoking removeLast() method: [Gaurav, Harsh, Virat, Gaurav, Harsh]
After invoking removeFirstOccurrence() method: [Harsh, Virat, Gaurav, Harsh]
After invoking removeLastOccurrence() method: [Harsh, Virat, Gaurav]
After invoking clear() method: []

Reversing LinkedList Elements

You can traverse the LinkedList in reverse order using a descending iterator.

Example

Let's see a simple example to reverse elements.

Output:

LinkedList Example with Objects (Book)

In this example, we store and traverse custom objects using LinkedList.

Let's see a simple example using a Book class.

Output:

101 Let us C Yashwant Kanetkar BPB 8
102 Data Communications & Networking Forouzan Mc Graw Hill 4
103 Operating System Galvin Wiley 6