Why do linked lists use pointers instead of storing nodes inside of nodes

Question

I\'ve worked with linked lists before extensively in Java, but I\'m very new to C++. I was using this node class that was given to me in a project just fine

Answer 1

C++ is not Java. When you write

Node m_next;

in Java, that is the same as writing

Node* m_next;

in C++. In Java, the pointer is implicit, in C++ it is explicit. If you write

Node m_next;

in C++, you put an instance of Node right there inside the object that you are defining. It is always there and cannot be omitted, it cannot be allocated with new and it cannot be removed. This effect is impossible to achieve in Java, and it is totally different from what Java does with the same syntax.