Problem Statement
Write a program to find the node at which the intersection of two singly linked lists begins.
For example, the following two linked lists:
begin to intersect at node c1.
Example 1:
Input: intersectVal = 8, listA = [4,1,8,4,5], listB = [5,0,1,8,4,5], skipA = 2, skipB = 3 Output: Reference of the node with value = 8
Example 2:
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.
- Your code should preferably run in O(n) time and use only O(1) memory.
Solution:
# Definition for singly-linked list.
# class ListNode:
# def __init__(self, x):
# self.val = x
# self.next = None
class Solution:
def getIntersectionNode(self, headA: ListNode, headB: ListNode) -> ListNode:
if not headA or not headB:
return None
a_pointer = headA
b_pointer = headB
while a_pointer!=b_pointer:
if a_pointer==None:
a_pointer = headB
else:
a_pointer = a_pointer.next
if b_pointer==None:
b_pointer = headA
else:
b_pointer = b_pointer.next
return a_pointer
