148. Sort List

Problem:

Sort a linked list in O(n log n) time using constant space complexity.

Example 1:

Input: 4->2->1->3
Output: 1->2->3->4

Example 2:

Input: -1->5->3->4->0
Output: -1->0->3->4->5

Analysis:

本题的要求是空间复杂度为O(nlogn)，对于排序算法分为两种，一种是内部排序算法，另外一种是外部排序算法。对于内部排序算法，其时间复杂度要高，但是空间复杂度一般是常数；而对于外部排序算法一般需要使用额外的存储空间，因此此题考虑使用归并排序算法。代码如下：

Code:

/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * public class ListNode {
 *     int val;
 *     ListNode next;
 *     ListNode(int x) { val = x; }
 * }
 */
class Solution {
    public ListNode sortList(ListNode head) {
        if(head == null || head.next == null)
            return head;
        ListNode slow = head;
        ListNode fast = head;
        while(fast.next != null && fast.next.next != null) {
            slow = slow.next;
            fast = fast.next.next;
        }
        
        fast = slow.next;
        slow.next = null;
        
        return mergeNodes(sortList(head), sortList(fast));
    }
    
    private ListNode mergeNodes(ListNode left, ListNode right) {
        ListNode res = new ListNode(-1);
        ListNode cur = res;
        
        while(left != null && right != null) {
            if(left.val <= right.val) {
                cur.next = left;
                left = left.next;
            } else {
                cur.next = right;
                right = right.next;
            }
            cur = cur.next;
        }
        if(left != null) {
            cur.next = left;
        } else if(right != null) {
            cur.next = right;
        }
        
        return res.next;
    }
}