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Answer:

Yes.


Linked List as an Object

In the previous chapter main() built a linked list out of Node objects, but the linked list itself was not a self-contained object. It would be nice to have an object that consists of the chain of nodes and the methods that manipulate them. This chapter does that.

Here for review is the Node class:

public class Node
{
  private Node next;
  private int  value;
  
  public Node ( int val )
  {
    value = val;
    next = null;
  }
  
  public int  getValue() { return value; }
  public Node getNext()  { return next; }
  
  public void setValue( int val ) { value = val; }
  public void setNext( Node nxt ) { next = nxt; } 
  
  public String toString() { return value + ", "; }
}

Here is a sketch of a the LinkedList class that contains a pointer to the first node of a chain of nodes:

public class LinkedList
{
   private Node headPtr = null;
  
  // The constructor creates an empty list
  public LinkedList()
  {
    headPtr = null;
  }
   
  // Insert one Node containing data at the head
  // of the list.  This will be explained in a few pages.
  public void insertFirst( int data )
  {
    Node newFirst = new Node( data );
    newFirst.setNext( headPtr );
    headPtr = newFirst;
  }
}

The constructor is not really needed since the default constructor would be enough, but is included here to emphasise the initial conditions.

The goal is to create a LinkedList object similar to that pictured:

linked list object with three nodes

QUESTION 2:

(Thought Question:) Would it be possible to have a LinkedList object that does not link to any nodes?