A representation for linear lists with movable fingers

Abstract

This paper describes a data structure which is useful for representing linear lists when the pattern of accesses to a list exhibits a (perhaps time-varying) locality of reference. The structure has many of the properties of the representation proposed by Guibas, McCreight, Plass, and Roberts [4], but is substantially simpler and may be practical for lists of moderate size. The analysis of our structure includes a general treatment of the worst-case node splitting caused by consecutive insertions into a 2-3 tree.