Problem on loops

Pointers
Lists
Conclusion

Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

Abhilash I
abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in

October 20, 2008

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Pointers
Lists
Conclusion

Table of contents

1 Problem on loops
Solution
2 Pointers
Problem 1
Problem 2
Never forget these
3 Lists
Decleration
Operations
Problems
4 Conclusion

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Pointers
Solution
Lists
Conclusion

Problem on loops

for(i=0; i<n;i++)
for(i=0;i<p;i++)
printf("yes");

Problem statement
On executing the above code how many times will yes be printed
for different values of p=n, n-1, n-2;

value of p answer
n ?
n-1 ?
n-2 ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Pointers
Solution
Lists
Conclusion

Solution

value of p answer
n n
n-1 ∞ n-1
n-2 ∞

for(i=0; i<n;i++) while(i<n){

for(i=0;i<p;i++) i=0;
printf("yes"); while(i<p){ i++; }
i++;
}

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Pointers
Solution
Lists
Conclusion

Solution

value of p answer
n n
n-1 ∞ n-1
n-2 ∞

for(i=0; i<n;i++) while(i<n){

for(i=0;i<p;i++) i=0;
printf("yes"); while(i<p){ i++; }
i++;
}
Moral of the story
Tricky problems look simple.
Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists
 Problem on loops
Problem 1
Pointers
Problem 2
Lists
Never forget these
Conclusion

Problem1

void func(char *x){

*x=’b’;
}
main(){
char ch=’a’;
char *a=&ch;
char *b=a;
func(a);
printf("%c %c\n", *a, *b);
}

Question
What is the output of the above program ?
Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists
 Problem on loops
Problem 1
Pointers
Problem 2
Lists
Never forget these
Conclusion

Problem 2

char *func(char *x){

x=malloc(100);
strcpy(x, "low");
return x;
}
main(){
char *x="high",*y="high";
func(x);
y=func(y);
printf("%s %s\n", x, y);
}

Question
What is the output of the above program ?
Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists
 Problem on loops
Problem 1
Pointers
Problem 2
Lists
Never forget these
Conclusion

Never forget these

Pointer is a variable.
In the decleration char *p; What is the data type of p and *p ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Problem 1
Pointers
Problem 2
Lists
Never forget these
Conclusion

Never forget these

ANSI C standard defines string literals to be constant.

char *p="tutorial";
p[0]=’z’; //results in a segmentation fault

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Problem 1
Pointers
Problem 2
Lists
Never forget these
Conclusion

Never forget these

You cannot modify the base address of an array.

char buff[100];
char *p="pointer"
buff=p; //raises a compilation error;

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Problem 1
Pointers
Problem 2
Lists
Never forget these
Conclusion

Never forget these

Pointer is a variable.
In the decleration char *p; What is the data type of p and *p ?
ANSI C standard defines string literals to be constant.
char *p="tutorial";
p[0]=’z’; //results in a segmentation fault
You cannot modify the base address of an array.
char buff[100];
char *p="pointer"
buff=p; //raises a compilation error;

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Basics: Decleration

In C
struct node{
int data;
struct node * next;
}

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Basics: Decleration

In C++
struct node{
int data;
node * next;
}

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Basics: Decleration

In C
struct node{
int data;
struct node * next;
}
In C++
struct node{
int data;
node * next;
}

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Basics: Operations

Allocation of Memory
struct node *nn = (struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node))); //c
node *nn = new node; //c++ style

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Basics: Operations

Allocation of Memory
struct node *nn = (struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node))); //c
node *nn = new node; //c++ style

Insertion
Deletion

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Nature of problems

For most of the questions naive solutions are trivial

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Nature of problems

For most of the questions naive solutions are trivial

Yes, interviewers look for optimized versions

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Nature of problems

For most of the questions naive solutions are trivial

Yes, interviewers look for optimized versions
We will walk through a set of examples in the next few slides

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Problem Statement
Find the maximum/mininum elements of a linked list ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Problem Statement
Find the maximum/mininum elements of a linked list ?

node* findMaximum(node *head){

node * returnValue=head;
while(head!=NULL){
if (head->data > returnValue->data){
returnValue=head;
}
head=head->next;
}
return returnValue;
}

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Problem Statement
Find union/intersection of two linked lists ?

Typically you would have to write a function that returns a

new list
Please write it down.

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Problem Statement
Reverse a linked list.

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Problem Statement
Reverse a linked list.

Constraints
O(1) space complexity
O(N) time complexity

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Problem Statement
Reverse a linked list.

Constraints
O(1) space complexity
O(N) time complexity

Hottest problem: probably the most asked question

Iterative solution
Recursive solution

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Iterative solution

void reverse(struct node **x){

struct node *q,*r,*temp;
r=*x;
q=NULL;
while(r!=NULL){
temp=q;
q=r;
r=r->next;
q->next=temp;
}
*x=p;
}

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Recursive solution

node* reverse(node** head , node* cur){

if(cur->next == NULL) {
*head = cur;
}
else{
(reverse(head,cur->next))->next = cur;
cur->next = NULL;
}
return cur;
}

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Not so easy deletion

Problem Statement
Given a pointer to a node in a linked list, how do you delete that
particular node ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Moving two pointers cleverly

Depends on the problem at hand

Example: Move one pointer slowly
like a tortoise and other one fastly
like a hare
Next 4 problems based on this
trick
Also known as Floyd’s cycle
detection algorithm

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

k th element from end

Problem Statement
Find the k th element from the end of a linked list ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

k th element from end

Problem Statement
Find the k th element from the end of a linked list ?

Constraints
Without using integer variable to store length of list.

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Center of the Linked List

Problem Statement
Find the center of the linked list ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Center of the Linked List

Problem Statement
Find the center of the linked list ?

Constraints
You cannot use integer variables in your solution.

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Y-shaped Linked List

Problem Statement
Given pointers to two singly-linked lists, find out if they are joined
and also at which node they are joined.

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Cycle in the Linked List

Problem Statement
Find whether the linked list has a cycle or not ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Cycle in the Linked List

Problem Statement
Find whether the linked list has a cycle or not ?

Solution strategies
By storing the addresses of the elements already seen ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Cycle in the Linked List

Problem Statement
Find whether the linked list has a cycle or not ?

Solution strategies
By storing the addresses of the elements already seen ?
By destructing the linked list ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Cycle in the Linked List

Problem Statement
Find whether the linked list has a cycle or not ?

Solution strategies
By storing the addresses of the elements already seen ?
By destructing the linked list ?
By reversing the linked list ?

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists

 Problem on loops
Decleration
Pointers
Operations
Lists
Problems
Conclusion

Cycle in the Linked List

Problem Statement
Find whether the linked list has a cycle or not ?

Solution strategies
By storing the addresses of the elements already seen ?
By destructing the linked list ?
By reversing the linked list ?
By cleverly moving two pointers
Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists
 Problem on loops
Pointers
Lists
Conclusion

Conclusion

Talked about a simple problem on loops

Facts we shouldn’t forget about about pointers.
Problems on linked list
Moving pointers cleverly to solve problems.
Please drop your comments : abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in

Abhilash I abhilashi@students.iiit.ac.in Loops, Pointers and Linked Lists