Sort List

 

Sort a linked list in O(n log n) time using constant space complexity.

 

     一看到这个题目，首先想到归并排序。归并排序需要将数据近似划成两等分，可以用快慢指针法，慢指针一次走一步，快指针一次走两步，快指针走到链表末尾时，慢指针刚好走到一半。本题的递归解法如下：

/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * struct ListNode {
 *     int val;
 *     ListNode *next;
 *     ListNode(int x) : val(x), next(NULL) {}
 * };
 */
class Solution {
public:
    ListNode* sortList(ListNode* head) {
        if(head == NULL || head->next == NULL) {
            return head;
        }
        ListNode* p1 = head;
        ListNode* p2 = head;
        ListNode* head1 = head;
        ListNode* head2 = head;
        while(p2) {
            p2 = p2->next;
            if(p2) {
                p2 = p2->next;
            }
            if(!p2) {
                head1 = p1->next;
                p1->next = NULL;
            } else {
                p1 = p1->next; 
            }
        }
        head2 = sortList(head1);
        head1 = sortList(head);
        ListNode* p = head1;
        p1 = head1;
        p2 = head2;
        if(head2->val < head1->val) {
            p = head2;
            p2 = p2->next;
        } else {
            p1 = p1->next;
        }
        head = p;
        while(p1 && p2) {
            if(p1->val < p2->val) {
                p->next = p1;
                p = p->next;
                p1 = p1->next;
            } else {
                p->next = p2;
                p = p->next;
                p2 = p2->next;
            }
        }
        while(p1) {
            p->next = p1;
            p = p->next;
            p1 = p1->next;
        }
        while(p2) {
            p->next = p2;
            p = p->next;
            p2 = p2->next;
        }
        return head;
    }
};