What is the time complexity of searching for an element in a singly linked list?Group of answer choicesO(1)O(n log n)O(n)O(log n)

Break Down the Problem

1. Identify the data structure: We are working with a singly linked list.
2. Define the operation: The operation in question is searching for an element.

Relevant Concepts

1. Singly Linked List: A data structure where each element (node) contains a value and a reference (or pointer) to the next node.
2. Searching: To find an element, we usually have to traverse the list from the head to the desired element.

Analysis and Detail

1. Traversal Requirement: In the worst-case scenario, we may need to check each node in the list until we find the target element or reach the end of the list.
2. Length of the List: If there are n nodes in the list, in the worst case, we may have to check all n nodes.

Verify and Summarize

• Since we need to check each element in the list to find the desired one, the time complexity for searching an element in a singly linked list is linear in relation to the number of elements.

Final Answer

The time complexity of searching for an element in a singly linked list is O(n).