<p>It's a single linked list. Each block points to the previous one. It's not possible to blocks to point the next one on the chain, cause 1)it doesn't yet exist 2)there will be possible multiple blocks in the future, every one except one will get orphaned.</p>

<p>The term 'blockchain' is somehow misleading, it's more like a tree data structure. Only most branches diverging from the principal one are ignored after some time, and called 'orphans'.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-13T15:26:41.843Z
2018-02-13T15:26:41.843Z
Osias Jota
<p>It's a Singly-linked list (i.e. a Doubly-linked list that only goes in one direction) but it <em>proves</em> that the previous element is in fact the previous element.</p>

<p>That's all it is!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-21T03:22:26.523Z
2018-06-21T03:22:26.523Z
MonerosKin
<p>I came across this definition of Blockchain from Oleg Andreev , who is the protocol architect of @chain -
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/19brn.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/19brn.jpg" alt="Definition of Blockchain from Oleg Andreev" /></a></p>
<p>It felt like double linked list to me.</p>

<blockchain><block>
How similar is Blockchain (as a data structure) to double linked list?
Aashish Loknath Panigrahi
# How similar is Blockchain (as a data structure) to double linked list?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-13)

I came across this definition of Blockchain from Oleg Andreev , who is the protocol architect of @chain -
[![Definition of Blockchain from Oleg Andreev](https://i.sstatic.net/19brn.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/19brn.jpg)

It felt like double linked list to me.

**Tags:** blockchain, block


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-02-13. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

It's a single linked list. Each block points to the previous one. It's not possible to blocks to point the next one on the chain, cause 1)it doesn't yet exist 2)there will be possible multiple blocks in the future, every one except one will get orphaned.

The term 'blockchain' is somehow misleading, it's more like a tree data structure. Only most branches diverging from the principal one are ignored after some time, and called 'orphans'.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-06-21. Score: 0

It's a Singly-linked list (i.e. a Doubly-linked list that only goes in one direction) but it *proves* that the previous element is in fact the previous element.

That's all it is!


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