#19 Remove Nth Node From End of List（删除链表倒数第N个节点）

#19 Remove Nth Node From End of List

题目地址：#19
题目分类：Linked List（链表）
题目难度：Easy

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题目

Given a linked list, remove the nth node from the end of list and return its head.

For example,

Given linked list: 1->2->3->4->5, and n = 2.

After removing the second node from the end, the linked list becomes 1->2->3->5.

Note:
Given n will always be valid.
Try to do this in one pass.

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思路

简单题，唯一难点是：在一次遍历中完成这个过程。
因此我们选择用两个指针的方法，一个指针先走N步，在考虑边界条件的同时遍历链表。
要点：删除倒数第N个，维护的应该是这个节点的前一个。此为解题关键

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陷阱

1 边界条件，容易犯N差1的错误
2 对于链表长度恰好为N，要注意单独处理
3 链表计数，是从1开始，同样边界条件问题
4 题目要求删除倒数第N个，并非正数

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测试案例

1 空链表。应该返回NULL
2 输入n == 0，应该不做任何改动
3 链表长为N，输入n == N
4 链表长为N，输入n > N
5 正常输入

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代码

C
(双指针，不引入额外节点，以循环计数控制边界条件。较容易出+-1错误，不推荐)

/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * struct ListNode {
 *     int val;
 *     struct ListNode *next;
 * };
 */
struct ListNode *removeNthFromEnd(struct ListNode *head, int n) {
    if(head==NULL||n==0)
        return head;
    struct ListNode *fast = head;
    int i;
    for(i=0;i<n-1;i++){
        if(fast->next==NULL)
            return head;//wrong input, n too big
        fast = fast->next;
    }
    if(fast->next==NULL)
        return head->next;
    fast = fast->next;
    //dealing with when length equals n

    struct ListNode *ptr_before_delete = head;
    while(fast->next!=NULL){
        fast = fast->next;
        ptr_before_delete = ptr_before_delete->next;
    }
    ptr_before_delete->next = ptr_before_delete->next->next;
    return head;
}

/*
1- n bigger than length
2- nothing else, pay attention to the way counting n
3- damn, from the end. I ignore that
*/

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C++
(小改动，引入额外节点作为头结点。方便计数，代码简洁。如果允许额外节点空间，推荐这种方法。为了代码简洁，并没有delete这个额外节点，实际使用记得删掉)

/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * struct ListNode {
 *     int val;
 *     ListNode *next;
 *     ListNode(int x) : val(x), next(NULL) {}
 * };
 */
class Solution {
public:
    ListNode *removeNthFromEnd(ListNode *head, int n) {
        ListNode *realhead=new ListNode(0);
        realhead->next=head;
        ListNode *fast=realhead,*slow=realhead;
        while(n--)
        {
            if(fast==NULL)//n>length, return
                return head;
            fast=fast->next;
        }
        while(fast->next!=NULL)//fast move to the last node
        {
            fast=fast->next;
            slow=slow->next;
        }
        slow->next=slow->next->next;//not good but for shorter time
        return realhead->next;        
    }
};