Node reverse(Node head) {
Node previous = null;
Node current = head;
Node forward;
while (current != null) {
forward = current.next;
current.next = previous;
previous = current;
current = forward;
}
return previous;
}
How exactly is it reversing the list? I get that it first sets the second node to forward. Then it says current.next is equal to a null node previous. Then it says previous is now current. Lastly current becomes forward?
I can't seem to grasp this and how its reversing. Can someone please explain how this works?
You reverse the list iteratively and always have the list in the interval [head, previous] correctly reversed(so current is the first node that has its link not set correctly). On each step you do the following:
- You remember the next node of current so that you can continue from it
- You set the link of current to be pointing to previous, which is the correct direction if you think about it
- You change previous to be current, because now current also has its link set correctly
- You change the first node that does not hae its link set correctly to be the one remebered in the first step
If you do that for all the nodes you can prove(with induction for instance). That the list will be correctly reversed.
The code simply walks the list and inverts the links until it reaches the previous tail, which it returns as the new head.
Before:
Node 1 (Head) -> Node 2 -> Node 3 -> Node 4 (Tail) -> null
After:
null <- Node 1 (Tail) <- Node 2 <- Node 3 <- Node 4 (Head)
public Node getLastNode( )
{
if( next != null )
return next.getLastNode( );
else
return this;
}
public Node reverse( Node source )
{
Node reversed = source.getLastNode( );
Node cursor = source;
while( cursor != reversed )
{
reversed.addNodeAfter( cursor.getInfo( ) );
cursor = cursor.getNodeAfter( );
}
source = reversed;
return source;
}
I call it "cherry picking". The idea is to minimize the number of swaps. Swapping happens between a near and far index. Its a 2-Pass algorithm.
(Odd length) A -> B -> C -> D -> E
(Even length) A -> B -> C -> D
Pre-Condition: N >= 2
Pass 1: Count N, the number of elements
Pass 2:
for(j=0 -> j<= (N/2 -1))
{
swap(j, (N-1)-j)
}
Example 1:
For above Odd length list, N = 5 and there will be two swaps
when j=0, swap(0, 4) //post swap state: E B C D A
when j=1, swap(1, 3) //post swap state: E D C B A
The mid point for odd length lists remains intact.
Example 2:
For above Even length list, N = 4 and there will be two swaps
when j=0, swap(0, 3) //post swap state: D B C A
when j=1, swap(1, 2) //post swap state: D C B A
- Swapping applies to data only, not to pointers, there might be any sanity checks missed, but you got the idea.
Reversing a singly linked list using iteration
current = head //point current pointer to head of the linked list
while(current != NULL)
{
forward = current->link; //point to the next node
fforward = forward->link; //point the next node to next node
fforward->link = forward;//1->2->3,,,,,,,,,this will point node 3 to node 2
forward->link = current; //this will point node 2 to node 1
if(current == head)
current->link = NULL;// if current pointer is head pointer it should point to NULL while reversing
current = current->link; //traversing the list
}
head = current; //make current pointer the head pointer
list_t *reverse(list_t *a)
{
list_t *progress = NULL;
while(a)
{
list_t *b; //b is only a temporary variable (don't bother focusing on it)
b = a->next;
a->next = progress; //because a->next is assigned to another value, we must first save a->next to a different variable (to be able to use it later)
progress = a; //progress is initially NULL (so a->next = NULL (because it is the new last element in the list))
a = b; //we set a to b (the value we saved earlier, what a->next was before it became NULL)
/*
now, at next iteration, progress will equal a, and a will equal b.
so, when I assign a->next = progress, I really say, b->next = a.
and so what we get is: b->a->NULL.
Maybe that gives you an idea of the picture?
What is important here is:
progress = a
and
a = b
Because that determines what a->next will equal:
c->b->a->0
a's next is set to 0
b's next is set to a
c's next is set to b
*/
}
return progress;
}
The basic idea is to detach the head node from the first list and attach it to the head of a second list. Keep repeating until the first list is empty.
Pseudocode:
function reverseList(List X) RETURNS List
Y = null
WHILE X <> null
t = X.next
X.next = Y
Y = X
X = t
ENDWHILE
RETURN Y
ENDfunction
If you wish to leave the original list undisturbed then you can code a copying version recursively with the use of a helper function.
function reverseList(List X) RETURNS List
RETURN reverseListAux(X, null)
ENDfunction
function reverseListAux(List X, List Y) RETURNS List
IF X = null THEN
RETURN Y
ELSE
RETURN reverseListAux(X.next, makeNode(X.data, Y))
ENDfunction
Note that the helper function is tail recursive. This means that you can create a copying reversal using iteration.
function reverseList(List X) RETURNS List
Y = null
WHILE X <> null
Y = makeNode(x.data, Y)
X = X.next
ENDWHILE
RETURN Y
ENDfunction
// implementation of singly linked list reversal function
struct Node
{
int data;
struct Node* link;
}
Node* head = NULL;
void reverseList()
{
Node* previous, *current, *next;
previous = NULL;
current = head;
while(current != NULL)
{
next = current-> link;
current->link = previous;
previous = current;
current = next;
}
head = previous;
}
The easiest way to think about it is to think like this:
- First add the head of the list to a new linked list.
- Keep iterating through the original and keep adding the nodes before the head of the new linked list.
Diagram:
Initially:
Original List -> 1 2 3 4 5
New List -> null
1st Iteration
Original List -> 1 2 3 4 5
New List -> 1->null [head shifted to left, now newHead contains 1 and points to null]
2nd Iteration
Original List -> 1 2 3 4 5
New List -> 2-> 1->null [head shifted to left, now newHead contains 2 and points to next node which is 1]
3rd Iteration
Original List -> 1 2 3 4 5
New List ->3 -> 2-> 1->null [head shifted to left, now newHead contains 2 and points to next node which is 1]
Now it keeps looping through till the end. So finally the new list becomes:
New List-> 5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1 -> null
The code for the same should be like this (made it easy to understand):
/**
* Definition for singly-linked list.
* public class ListNode {
* int val;
* ListNode next;
* ListNode(int x) { val = x; }
* }
*/
public ListNode reverseList(ListNode head) {
if(head == null) {
return null;
}
if(head.next == null) {
return head;
}
ListNode current = head;
ListNode previous = new ListNode(head.val);
previous.next = null;
while(current.next != null) {
current = current.next;
previous = addBeforeHead(current, previous);
}
return previous;
}
private ListNode addBeforeHead(ListNode node, ListNode head) {
if (node == null) return null;
ListNode temp = new ListNode(node.val);
temp.next = head;
head = temp;
return head;
}
来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9076923/how-to-reverse-a-linked-list