# create the first node 
        li      $v0,9             # allocate memory
        li      $a0,8             # 8 bytes
        syscall                   # $v0 <-- address
        move    $s1,$v0           # $s1 = first node
        
        # copy the pointer to first
        sw      $s1,first 
        
        # initialize the node
        li      $t0,1             # store 1
        sw      $t0,0($s1)        # at displacement 0
        
        # create the second node 
        . . . .    
        
        .data
first:  .word  0    # address of the first node

Three Node List

Now let us build a linked list with three nodes. This will be done with an eye to generalizing the procedure so that lists with any number of nodes can be built. Here is the picture:

Let us first look at creating the first node. This is the same as before:

main:    
        # create the first node 
        li      $v0,9             # allocate memory
        li      $a0,8             # 8 bytes
        syscall                   # $v0 <-- address
        move    $s1,$v0           # $s1 = first node
        
        # copy the pointer to first
        sw      ___,_____
        
        # initialize the first node
        li      $t0,1             # store 1
        sw      $t0,0(___)        # at displacement 0