Final answer:
Linked lists have dynamic sizing and efficient memory usage, allow for cheap insertions and deletions, but lack direct access and have higher memory overhead per element compared to arrays.
Step-by-step explanation:
When comparing a linked list to an array, several key points stand out. First, linked lists have dynamic sizes which means they can grow or shrink during runtime, while arrays have a fixed size. Second, memory utilization in linked lists is more efficient for lists that change often because elements are not stored contiguously, unlike arrays where memory is allocated at the time of declaration, potentially leading to waste or overflow if the size was underestimated or overestimated. Third, insertion and deletion operations are quicker in linked lists as they involve changing the pointers to the next elements, whereas in arrays, these operations can be expensive, especially with large amounts of data that may require shifting elements to maintain order.
However, linked lists lack direct access to elements, which means searching for an element in a linked list requires sequential traversal from the head of the list, while arrays allow for direct access via indices, making reads faster for arrays. Furthermore, due to the storage of additional pointers, linked lists have a larger memory footprint per element compared to arrays.