142. Linked List Cycle II

Problem:

Given a linked list, return the node where the cycle begins. If there is no cycle, return null.

To represent a cycle in the given linked list, we use an integer pos which represents the position (0-indexed) in the linked list where tail connects to. If pos is -1, then there is no cycle in the linked list.

Note: Do not modify the linked list.

 

Example 1:

Input: head = [3,2,0,-4], pos = 1
Output: tail connects to node index 1
Explanation: There is a cycle in the linked list, where tail connects to the second node.

Example 2:

Input: head = [1,2], pos = 0
Output: tail connects to node index 0
Explanation: There is a cycle in the linked list, where tail connects to the first node.

Example 3:

Input: head = [1], pos = -1
Output: no cycle
Explanation: There is no cycle in the linked list.

 

Follow-up:
Can you solve it without using extra space?

Analysis:

本题的题意是判断链表中是否存在一个环，如果不存在直接返回null即可；如果存在环结构，则需要返回进入环的第一个节点。解决本题的方法也是使用快慢指针去遍历整个链表，判断链表是否存在环结构，需要注意的是这里需要三个指针，即两个快指针一个慢指针，两个快指针分别以每次2,3步往前推进，慢指针则是每次走1步。这样快指针不至于因为偶数或者奇数步而跳跃了首次进入环结构的节点。代码如下：

Code:

/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * class ListNode {
 *     int val;
 *     ListNode next;
 *     ListNode(int x) {
 *         val = x;
 *         next = null;
 *     }
 * }
 */
public class Solution {
    public ListNode detectCycle(ListNode head) {
        if(head == null || head.next == null)
            return null;
        Set<ListNode> temp = new HashSet<ListNode>();
        ListNode slowNode = head, fastNode = head;
        while(fastNode != null && fastNode.next != null) {
            temp.add(slowNode);
            slowNode = slowNode.next;
            fastNode = fastNode.next.next;
            if(temp.contains(fastNode)) {
                return fastNode;
            }
            if(fastNode != null && fastNode.next != null && temp.contains(fastNode.next)) {
                return fastNode.next;
            }
        }
        return null;
    }
}