Flowcharts & Processes

How LRU Cache Achieves O(1) Reads & Writes

Flowcharts & Algorithms diagram · made in Skemio

Flowchart of LRU cache PUT operation showing key lookup, updating MRU head, capacity checks, and evicting LRU tail items.
Flowchart of LRU cache PUT operation showing key lookup, updating MRU head, capacity checks, and evicting LRU tail items.
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What it shows

  • A hash map provides instant O(1) key lookups to list pointers.
  • A doubly-linked list enables O(1) removals and insertions at edges.
  • Access moves items to the head; full capacity drops items from the tail.

The takeaway

Pairing a hash map with a doubly-linked list turns complex cache eviction into pure O(1) operations.

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