How to distinguish a data structure tree from a linked list based on their characteristics and applications?

A tree and a linked list are different data structures with distinctive characteristics:

• Linked list — a linear structure where each element (node) contains data and a reference to the next element. It can be singly or doubly linked. Used for sequential data storage with the ability to dynamically change size.

• Tree — a hierarchical structure consisting of nodes, where each node can have multiple child nodes (for example, a binary tree — at most two children). Used to represent hierarchies, fast searching (e.g., binary search tree), and data organization.

Main differences:

Characteristic	Linked list	Tree
Structure	Linear	Hierarchical
Number of links	1 or 2 (next/previous)	Many (depends on tree type)
Application	Queues, stacks, dynamic lists	Hierarchical data, search, sorting

Example of a linked list:

class Node {
  int data;
  Node? next;
  Node(this.data);
}

Example of a tree node:

class TreeNode {
  int data;
  List<TreeNode> children = [];
  TreeNode(this.data);
}