CODE 109: Merge k Sorted Lists

Merge k sorted linked lists and return it as one sorted list. Analyze and describe its complexity.

	public ListNode mergeKLists(ArrayList<ListNode> lists) {
		// IMPORTANT: Please reset any member data you declared, as
		// the same Solution instance will be reused for each test case.
		if (null == lists || lists.isEmpty()) {
			return null;
		}
		return dfs(lists, 0, lists.size() - 1);
	}

	ListNode dfs(ArrayList<ListNode> lists, int start, int end) {
		if (start == end) {
			return lists.get(start);
		} else if (end > start && end == start + 1) {
			return merge2Lists(lists.get(start), lists.get(end));
		}
		int mid = start + (end - start) / 2;
		ListNode left = dfs(lists, start, mid);
		ListNode right = dfs(lists, mid + 1, end);
		return merge2Lists(left, right);
	}

	ListNode merge2Lists(ListNode first, ListNode second) {
		ListNode tmpF = first;
		ListNode tmpS = second;
		ListNode newNode = new ListNode(0);
		ListNode tmpN = newNode;
		while (null != tmpF && null != tmpS) {
			if (tmpS.val >= tmpF.val) {
				tmpN.next = tmpF;
				tmpF = tmpF.next;
				tmpN = tmpN.next;
			} else {
				ListNode node = new ListNode(tmpS.val);
				tmpN.next = node;
				tmpS = tmpS.next;
				tmpN = tmpN.next;
			}
		}
		if (null != tmpS) {
			tmpN.next = tmpS;
		}
		if (null != tmpF) {
			tmpN.next = tmpF;
		}
		return newNode.next;
	}