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.
Code:
/**
* Definition for singly-linked list.
* struct ListNode {
* int val;
* ListNode *next;
* ListNode(int x) : val(x), next(NULL) {}
* };
*/
class Solution {
public:
ListNode *getIntersectionNode(ListNode *headA, ListNode *headB) {
if(!headA || !headB) return NULL;
ListNode *tempA = headA;
ListNode *tempB = headB;
int countA = 0;
int countB = 0;
//count length of A list
while(tempA->next){
countA++;
tempA = tempA->next;
}
//count length of B list
while(tempB->next){
countB++;
tempB = tempB->next;
}
//if they have intersection, tempA and tempB would reach at the same end.
//otherwise they have no intersection.
if(tempB != tempA) return NULL;
tempA = headA;
tempB = headB;
//extra_len is how much longer is a list than the other list.
int extra_len;
//if A list is longer by x
if(countA >= countB){
extra_len = countA-countB;
//we move the pointer in list A to xth node from head
while(extra_len > 0){
tempA = tempA->next;
extra_len --;
}
}else{//if B list is longer by x
extra_len = countB-countA;
//we move the pointer in list B to xth node from head
while(extra_len > 0){
tempB = tempB->next;
extra_len --;
}
}
//move both pointers at the same time. They would meet each other at the intersection node.
while(tempA != tempB){
tempA = tempA->next;
tempB = tempB->next;
}
return tempA;
}
};