Merge Two Sorted Lists

</pre><pre name="code" class="java">/*

Merge two sorted linked lists and return it as a new list. 

The new list should be made by splicing together the nodes of the first two lists.
*/
/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * public class ListNode {
 *     int val;
 *     ListNode next;
 *     ListNode(int x) {
 *         val = x;
 *         next = null;
 *     }
 * }
 */

/*
Key to solve:
Use a dummy node, then link merged list ll to dummy node, since two linked list are sorted
if l1<l2 => dummy.next=l1;
else dummy.next=l2;
*/
public class Solution {
    public ListNode mergeTwoLists(ListNode l1, ListNode l2) {
        //check for base case
        if(l1==null) return l2;
        if(l2==null) return l1;
        if(l1==null && l2==null) return l1;

        //delcare a dummy node
        ListNode dummy=new ListNode(0);
        //delcare a temple ListNode ll
        ListNode ll=dummy;

        while(l1!=null && l2!=null){
        	if(l1.val<l2.val){
        		ll.next=l1;
        		l1=l1.next;
        	}else{
        		ll.next=l2;
        		l2=l2.next;
        	}

        	ll=ll.next;        	
        }
        //append any additional elements in the list to merged list
        if(l1!=null){
        	ll.next=l1;
        }else{
        	ll.next=l2;
        }
        return dummy.next;
    }
}