Leetcode 21: Merge Two Sorted Lists

问题描述：
Merge two sorted linked lists and return it as a sorted list. The list should be made by splicing together the nodes of the first two lists.
顺序合并两个（有序）单链表

思路：
思路简单暴力，先把临界情况排除，剩下两个链表均至少有一个节点的情况。再把两个链表尾巴补上大数节点，省下检查尾部空指针的情况。比较时每个链表分派一个指针，较小者胜出，补进新链表。在新链表中保留并实时更新当前位置的指针，知道两个链表均比较至末尾。返回头指针。

/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * public class ListNode {
 *     int val;
 *     ListNode next;
 *     ListNode() {}
 *     ListNode(int val) { this.val = val; }
 *     ListNode(int val, ListNode next) { this.val = val; this.next = next; }
 * }
 */
class Solution {
    public ListNode mergeTwoLists(ListNode l1, ListNode l2) {
        if ((l1==null) && (l2==null)) return null;
        if ((l1!=null) && (l2==null)) return l1;
        if ((l1==null) && (l2!=null)) return l2;
        
        //add a dummy node at back of list1
        ListNode iter = l1;
        while (iter.next!=null){
            iter = iter.next;
        }
        ListNode dummy1 = new ListNode (999);
        iter.next = dummy1;
        dummy1.next = null;
        
        //add a dummy node at back of list2
        iter = l2;
        while (iter.next!=null){
            iter = iter.next;
        }
        ListNode dummy2 = new ListNode(999);
        iter.next = dummy2;
        dummy2.next = null;
        
        //sorting
        ListNode head = null;
        ListNode pointer1 = l1;
        ListNode pointer2 = l2;
        if (pointer1.val<=pointer2.val){
            head = new ListNode(pointer1.val);
            pointer1=pointer1.next;
        }
        else{
            head = new ListNode(pointer2.val);
            pointer2=pointer2.next;
        }
        
        ListNode recent_add = head;
        ListNode to_add = null;
        while((pointer1.val!=999)||(pointer2.val!=999)){
            if (pointer1.val<=pointer2.val){
                to_add = new ListNode(pointer1.val);
                pointer1=pointer1.next;
            } 
            else{
                to_add = new ListNode(pointer2.val);
                pointer2=pointer2.next;
            }
            recent_add.next = to_add;
            recent_add = to_add;
        }
        
        return head;
    }
}

代码不复杂，但是太长了。。。有必要学习一下简便的方法。
简便方法1：递归

class Solution {
    public ListNode mergeTwoLists(ListNode l1, ListNode l2) {
        if (l1==null) return l2;
        if (l2==null) return l1;
        
        if(l1.val<l2.val){
            l1.next=mergeTwoLists(l1.next, l2);
            return l1;
        }
        else{
            l2.next = mergeTwoLists(l1, l2.next);
            return l2;
        }
    }
}