Intersection of Two Linked Lists

Write a program to find the node at which the intersection of two singly linked lists begins.

For example, the following two linked lists:

A:          a1 → a2
                   ↘
                     c1 → c2 → c3
                   ↗            
B:     b1 → b2 → b3

begin to intersect at node c1.

Notes:

• If the two linked lists have no intersection at all, return null.
• The linked lists must retain their original structure after the function returns.
• You may assume there are no cycles anywhere in the entire linked structure.
• Your code should preferably run in O(n) time and use only O(1) memory.

Credits:
Special thanks to @stellari for adding this problem and creating all test cases.

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Have you met this question in a real interview?

很简单的一道题，但是有不同的思路。 

1. bruce force O(mn) running time, O (1) space. 

2. HashSet  O(m + n ) running time, O(m) space.  

3. Count the list length and detect the first same node,  O(m + n) running time, O (1) space

4. Maintain 2 points, if one pointer get to the end, redirect to the other list. Then find the first common node. O(m + n) running time. O(1) space.

method 3: 

/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * public class ListNode {
 *     int val;
 *     ListNode next;
 *     ListNode(int x) {
 *         val = x;
 *         next = null;
 *     }
 * }
 */
public class Solution {
    public ListNode getIntersectionNode(ListNode headA, ListNode headB) {
        if(headA == null || headB == null)
            return null;
        ListNode curA = headA;
        ListNode curB = headB;
        int lenA = 1, lenB = 1;
        while(curA.next != null){
            curA = curA.next;
            lenA++;
        }
        while(curB.next != null){
            curB = curB.next;
            lenB++;
        }
        if(curA != curB){
            return null;
        }
        ListNode longList = (lenA > lenB) ? headA : headB;
        ListNode shortList = (lenA > lenB) ? headB : headA;
        int diff = Math.abs(lenA - lenB);
        while(diff > 0){
            longList = longList.next;
            diff--;
        }
        while(longList != shortList){
            longList = longList.next;
            shortList = shortList.next;
        }
        return longList;
    }
}

method 4 : 

/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * public class ListNode {
 *     int val;
 *     ListNode next;
 *     ListNode(int x) {
 *         val = x;
 *         next = null;
 *     }
 * }
 */
public class Solution {
    public ListNode getIntersectionNode(ListNode headA, ListNode headB) {
        if(headA == null || headB == null)
            return null;
        ListNode curA = headA;
        ListNode curB = headB;
        ListNode lastA = null;
        ListNode lastB = null;
        while(curA != curB){
            if(curA.next != null)
                curA = curA.next;
            else{
                lastA = curA;
                curA = headB;
            }
            if(curB.next != null)
                curB = curB.next;
            else{
                lastB = curB;
                curB = headA;
            }
            if(lastA != null && lastB != null && lastA != lastB)//---Detect  whether the last element same.
                return null;
        }
        return curA;
    }
}