Chapter 3: Dynamic Arrays & Linked Lists

"Memory is not a continuous tape. It is a fragmented landscape."

🏛️ The Academic View

Arrays give \(O(1)\) access. Linked Lists give \(O(1)\) insertion. We treat memory as an abstract resource.

🏗️ The Engineering Reality

Python Lists are dynamic arrays of pointers. They are cache-friendly but memory-heavy. Linked Lists in Python are often disastrous for performance due to pointer chasing and cache misses.

Key Topics: * The hidden cost of list.append() (Amortized analysis). * Why sys.getsizeof() lies to you. * Implementing a custom Linked List only when strictly necessary.