LeetCode160. Intersection of Two Linked Lists

题目

Write a program to find the node at which the intersection of two singly linked lists begins.

For example, the following two linked lists:

A:          a1 → a2
                    ↘
                      c1 → c2 → c3
                    ↗            
B:     b1 → b2 → b3

begin to intersect at node c1.

Notes:

• If the two linked lists have no intersection at all, return null.
• The linked lists must retain their original structure after the function returns.
• You may assume there are no cycles anywhere in the entire linked structure.
• Your code should preferably run in O(n) time and use only O(1) memory.

答案1：

HashSet。先把一条链放入HashSet，在从另一条链起点开始遍历，第一个重复节点就是交汇点。

public ListNode getIntersectionNode(ListNode headA, ListNode headB) {
    if (headA == null || headB == null) return null;
    HashSet<ListNode> set = new HashSet<ListNode>();
    ListNode p = headA;
    do {
        set.add(p);
        p = p.next;
    } while (p != null);

    p = headB;
    while (p != null && !set.contains(p)) {
        p = p.next;
    }
    return p;
}

答案2：

先求得每条链的长度。将长的链next至和短链相同长度，然后“齐头并进”。

public ListNode getIntersectionNode(ListNode headA, ListNode headB) {
    if (headA == null || headB == null) return null;
    ListNode a = headA, b = headB;
    int numA = 1, numB = 1;
    while (a.next != null) {
        numA++;
        a = a.next;
    }
    while (b.next != null) {
        numB++;
        b = b.next;
    }
    if (a != b) return null;

    a = headA;
    b = headB;
    while (numA > numB) {
        a = a.next;
        numA--;
    }
    while (numB > numA) {
        b = b.next;
        numB--;
    }

    while (a != b) {
        a = a.next;
        b = b.next;
    }

    return a;
}

答案三：

一个指针从A开头遍历至结尾，转B；另一个指针从B开头遍历至结尾，转A。len(A) + len(B) == len(B) + len(A)，从而保证到达交汇点前“齐头并进”。

public ListNode getIntersectionNode(ListNode headA, ListNode headB) {
    if (headA == null || headB == null) return null;
    ListNode a = headA, b = headB;
    //关键是要保持“齐头并进”
    while (a != b) {
        a = (a == null ? headB : a.next);
        b = (b == null ? headA : b.next);
    }
    return a;
}