【Leetcode】Merge K Sorted Lists (Sorting)

Merge k sorted linked lists and return it as one sorted list. Analyze and describe its complexity.

这道题要求归并k个排好序的lists。

解法1: 分治策略

凭借我们现在已有的知识，我们只知道如何归并两个排好序的list，在Merge Two Sorted Lists里面给出了很详细的过程，这里直接给出代码

	public ListNode merge(ListNode l1, ListNode l2) {
		ListNode helper = new ListNode(0);
		ListNode runner = helper;
		while (l1 != null && l2 != null) {
			if (l1.val < l2.val) {
				runner.next = l1;
				l1 = l1.next;
				runner = runner.next;
			} else {
				runner.next = l2;
				l2 = l2.next;
				runner = runner.next;
			}
			if (l1 != null)
				runner.next = l1;
			if (l2 != null)
				runner.next = l2;
		}
		return helper.next;
	}

如何把merge k 变成 merge 2呢？

这里我们第一个想到的是分治策略。k-->k/2-->k/4-->k/8-->...-->2

代码如下：

	public ListNode helper(ArrayList<ListNode> lists, int left, int right) {
		if (left == right)
			return lists.get(left);
		int middle = (left + right) / 2;
		return merge(helper(lists, left, middle),
				helper(lists, middle + 1, right));
	}

最后给出完整代码

	public ListNode mergeKLists(ArrayList<ListNode> lists) {
		if (lists == null || lists.size() == 0)
			return null;
		return helper(lists, 0, lists.size() - 1);
	}

	public ListNode helper(ArrayList<ListNode> lists, int left, int right) {
		if (left == right)
			return lists.get(left);
		int middle = (left + right) / 2;
		return merge(helper(lists, left, middle),
				helper(lists, middle + 1, right));
	}

	public ListNode merge(ListNode head1, ListNode head2) {
		ListNode helper = new ListNode(0);
		ListNode runner = helper;

		while (head1 != null && head2 != null) {
			if (head1.val < head2.val) {
				runner.next = head1;
				head1 = head1.next;
			} else {
				runner.next = head2;
				head2 = head2.next;
			}
			runner = runner.next;
		}
		if (head1 != null)
			runner.next = head1;
		if (head2 != null)
			runner.next = head2;
		return helper.next;
	}

解法2：堆排序

这道题还可以使用堆排序，思路是把所有的list的头个节点放进堆里面，然后依次弹出最小的节点尾插到新的链表中，并且更新头结点为下一个节点。这样就可以从小到大把所有节点都弹出来

首先是把所有头结点放入堆中

		for (int i = 0; i < lists.size(); i++) {
			ListNode node = lists.get(i);
			if (node != null) {
				heap.offer(node);
			}
		}

然后插入最小节点并更新已插入节点的头结点。

		ListNode helper = new ListNode(0);
		ListNode runner = helper;
		while (heap.size() > 0) {
			ListNode temp = heap.poll();
			runner.next = temp;
			runner = runner.next;
			if (temp.next != null)
				heap.offer(temp.next);
		}

最后给出完整代码。

	public ListNode mergeKLists(ArrayList<ListNode> lists) {
		PriorityQueue<ListNode> heap = new PriorityQueue<ListNode>(1,
				new Comparator<ListNode>() {
					@Override
					public int compare(ListNode n1, ListNode n2) {
						return n1.val - n2.val;
					}
				});

		for (int i = 0; i < lists.size(); i++) {
			ListNode node = lists.get(i);
			if (node != null) {
				heap.offer(node);
			}
		}

		ListNode helper = new ListNode(0);
		ListNode runner = helper;
		while (heap.size() > 0) {
			ListNode temp = heap.poll();
			runner.next = temp;
			runner = runner.next;
			if (temp.next != null)
				heap.offer(temp.next);
		}
		return helper.next;
	}