What is the primary purpose of the Node structure in a doubly linked list?

• A. To provide an interface for list operations
• B. To store the list's capacity
• C. To represent the list elements with data and links to neighbors
• D. To manage memory allocation for all nodes

Answer: (C)

In a doubly linked list, the Node is the basic element container that holds both the element’s value and the connections to its neighbors. Each node keeps the data and two references: one to the previous node and one to the next node. This dual-link setup is what allows traversal in both directions and makes insertions or deletions in the middle of the list efficient—you can rewire the neighboring links to splice or remove a node without shifting other elements. The node itself doesn’t manage the list’s capacity or handle memory allocation; those are responsibilities of the list structure and the runtime. By storing data and links to adjacent nodes, the Node serves as the fundamental building block that forms the connected chain.