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Intersection of Two Linked Lists

Write a program to find the node at which the intersection of two singly linked lists begins.




Example 1:

Input: intersectVal = 8, listA = [4,1,8,4,5], listB = [5,6,1,8,4,5], skipA = 2, skipB = 3
Output: Reference of the node with value = 8
Input 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.

Example 2:

Input: intersectVal = 2, listA = [1,9,1,2,4], listB = [3,2,4], skipA = 3, skipB = 1
Output: Reference of the node with value = 2
Input 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: null
Input 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.

Notes:

  • If the two linked lists have no intersection at all, return null.

  • The linked lists must retain their original structure after the function returns.

  • You may assume there are no cycles anywhere in the entire linked structure.

  • Each value on each linked list is in the range [1, 10^9].

  • Your code should preferably run in O(n) time and use only O(1) memory.


Solution:

public class Solution {
    public ListNode getIntersectionNode(ListNode headA, ListNode headB) {
        if(headA==headB) return headA;
        ListNode first=headA,second=headB;
        while(first!=null || second!=null)
        {
            first = (first==null)?headB:first.next;
            second = (second==null)?headA:second.next;
            if(first==second) return first;
        }
       return null;
    }
}

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