lintcdoe:Merge k Sorted Lists

Merge k sorted linked lists and return it as one sorted list.

Analyze and describe its complexity.

Have you met this question in a real interview? 

Yes

Example

Given lists:

[
  2->4->null,
  null,
  -1->null
],

return -1->2->4->null.

/**
 * Definition of ListNode
 * class ListNode {
 * public:
 *     int val;
 *     ListNode *next;
 *     ListNode(int val) {
 *         this->val = val;
 *         this->next = NULL;
 *     }
 * }
 */
class Solution {
    
struct OrderByNode
{
    bool operator() (const ListNode* n1, const ListNode* n2)
    {
        return n1->val >= n2->val;
    }
};
    
public:
    /**
     * @param lists: a list of ListNode
     * @return: The head of one sorted list.
     */
    ListNode *mergeKLists(vector<ListNode *> &lists) {
        // write your code here
        
        if (lists.size() == 0)
            return NULL;
        
        priority_queue<ListNode*, vector<ListNode*>, OrderByNode> auxQueue;
        
        for (int i=0; i<lists.size(); i++)
        {
            if (lists[i] != NULL)
                auxQueue.push(lists[i]);
        }
        
        ListNode dummyHeader(0);
        ListNode *pCurNode = &dummyHeader;
        
        while (auxQueue.size())
        {
            ListNode* selectedNode = auxQueue.top();
            auxQueue.pop();
            if (selectedNode->next)
            {
                auxQueue.push(selectedNode->next);
            }
            
            pCurNode->next = selectedNode;
            pCurNode = pCurNode->next;
        }
        
        return dummyHeader.next;
    }
};