Suggest an editImprove this articleRefine the answer for “What is head and tail of a list?”. Your changes go to moderation before they’re published.Approval requiredContentWhat you’re changing🇺🇸EN🇺🇦UAPreviewTitle (EN)Short answer (EN)In a **linked list**, **head** and **tail** are special pointers to the first and last elements of the list. **Key point:** head lets you start traversal from the beginning, while tail lets you quickly add new elements to the end without walking through the whole list.Shown above the full answer for quick recall.Answer (EN)ImageIn a **linked list** **head** and **tail** are special pointers to the **first** and **last** elements of the list. --- ### **1. What head is** - **Head** is the **first element** of the list. - Traversal starts from it: each element stores a reference (pointer) to the next one. Example: ```javascript head → [10 | *] → [20 | *] → [30 | None] ``` Here `head` points to the node with value `10`. --- ### **2. What tail is** - **Tail** is the **last element** of the list. - Its "reference to the next element" (`next`) equals `None` (or `null`) - meaning the list has ended. In the example above: ```javascript tail = [30 | None] ``` --- ### **3. Why they are needed** - **head** lets you start traversal from the beginning. - **tail** lets you quickly add new elements to the end without walking through the whole list. Without `tail`, adding an element to the end would require walking through the entire list from `head`. --- ### **4. Types of lists** | List type | Features | |---|---| | **Singly linked** | A node stores a reference only to the next element (`next`). | | **Doubly linked** | Each node stores references to the previous and next elements (`prev` and `next`), so you can move in both directions. | | **Circular** | `tail` points back to `head`, forming a ring. | --- **Summary:** > **Head** is the beginning of the list, > **Tail** is its end. > Together they define the boundaries of the linked list and help perform insertions and traversal efficiently.For the reviewerNote to the moderator (optional)Visible only to the moderator. Helps review go faster.