Algorithm


Problem Name: 160. Intersection of Two Linked Lists

The test cases are generated such that there are no cycles anywhere in the entire linked structure.

Note that the linked lists must retain their original structure after the function returns.

Custom Judge:

The inputs to the judge are given as follows (your program is not given these inputs):

  • intersectVal - The value of the node where the intersection occurs. This is 0 if there is no intersected node.
  • listA - The first linked list.
  • listB - The second linked list.
  • skipA - The number of nodes to skip ahead in listA (starting from the head) to get to the intersected node.
  • skipB - The number of nodes to skip ahead in listB (starting from the head) to get to the intersected node.

The judge will then create the linked structure based on these inputs and pass the two heads, headA and headB to your program. If you correctly return the intersected node, then your solution will be accepted.

 

Example 1:

Input: intersectVal = 8, listA = [4,1,8,4,5], listB = [5,6,1,8,4,5], skipA = 2, skipB = 3
Output: Intersected at '8'
Explanation: The intersected node's value is 8 (note that this must not be 0 if the two lists intersect).
From the head of A, it reads as [4,1,8,4,5]. From the head of B, it reads as [5,6,1,8,4,5]. There are 2 nodes before the intersected node in A; There are 3 nodes before the intersected node in B.
- Note that the intersected node's value is not 1 because the nodes with value 1 in A and B (2nd node in A and 3rd node in B) are different node references. In other words, they point to two different locations in memory, while the nodes with value 8 in A and B (3rd node in A and 4th node in B) point to the same location in memory.

Example 2:

Input: intersectVal = 2, listA = [1,9,1,2,4], listB = [3,2,4], skipA = 3, skipB = 1
Output: Intersected at '2'
Explanation: The intersected node's value is 2 (note that this must not be 0 if the two lists intersect).
From the head of A, it reads as [1,9,1,2,4]. From the head of B, it reads as [3,2,4]. There are 3 nodes before the intersected node in A; There are 1 node before the intersected node in B.

Example 3:

Input: intersectVal = 0, listA = [2,6,4], listB = [1,5], skipA = 3, skipB = 2
Output: No intersection
Explanation: From the head of A, it reads as [2,6,4]. From the head of B, it reads as [1,5]. Since the two lists do not intersect, intersectVal must be 0, while skipA and skipB can be arbitrary values.
Explanation: The two lists do not intersect, so return null.

 

Constraints:

  • The number of nodes of listA is in the m.
  • The number of nodes of listB is in the n.
  • 1 <= m, n <= 3 * 104
  • 1 <= Node.val <= 105
  • 0 <= skipA < m
  • 0 <= skipB < n
  • intersectVal is 0 if listA and listB do not intersect.
  • intersectVal == listA[skipA] == listB[skipB] if listA and listB intersect.

Code Examples

#1 Code Example with C Programming

Code - C Programming


struct ListNode *getIntersectionNode(struct ListNode *headA, struct ListNode *headB) {
  struct ListNode *a = headA, *b = headB;
  
  if (!a || !b) return NULL;
  
  while (a != b) {
     a = a ? a->next : headB;
     b = b ? b->next : headA;
   }
  
  return a;
}
Copy The Code & Try With Live Editor

Input

x
+
cmd
intersectVal = 8, listA = [4,1,8,4,5], listB = [5,6,1,8,4,5], skipA = 2, skipB = 3

Output

x
+
cmd
Intersected at '8'

#2 Code Example with Java Programming

Code - Java Programming


public class Solution {
  public ListNode getIntersectionNode(ListNode headA, ListNode headB) {
    ListNode copyA = headA;
    ListNode copyB = headB;
    while (copyA != copyB) {
      copyA = copyA == null ? headB : copyA.next;
      copyB = copyB == null ? headA : copyB.next;
    }
    return copyA;
  }
}
Copy The Code & Try With Live Editor

Input

x
+
cmd
intersectVal = 8, listA = [4,1,8,4,5], listB = [5,6,1,8,4,5], skipA = 2, skipB = 3

Output

x
+
cmd
Intersected at '8'

#3 Code Example with Javascript Programming

Code - Javascript Programming


const getIntersectionNode = function(headA, headB) {
  let a = headA, b = headB
  while(a !== b) {
    a = a == null ? headB : a.next
    b = b == null ? headA : b.next
  }
  return a
};
Copy The Code & Try With Live Editor

Input

x
+
cmd
intersectVal = 2, listA = [1,9,1,2,4], listB = [3,2,4], skipA = 3, skipB = 1

Output

x
+
cmd
Intersected at '2'

#4 Code Example with C# Programming

Code - C# Programming


namespace LeetCode
{
    public class _0160_IntersectionOfTwoLinkedLists
    {
        public ListNode GetIntersectionNode(ListNode headA, ListNode headB)
        {
            var p1 = headA;
            var p2 = headB;

            while (p1 != p2)
            {
                p1 = p1 == null ? headB : p1.next;
                p2 = p2 == null ? headA : p2.next;
            }

            return p1;
        }
    }
}
Copy The Code & Try With Live Editor

Input

x
+
cmd
intersectVal = 0, listA = [2,6,4], listB = [1,5], skipA = 3, skipB = 2

Output

x
+
cmd
No intersection
Advertisements

Demonstration


Previous
#155 Leetcode Min Stack Solution in C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, C# Leetcode
Next
#162 Leetcode Find Peak Element Solution in C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, C# Leetcode