DSA · Theory

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists

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Theory

688/810

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists

Don’t start Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists with jargon. Start with a ticket queue node. That is the whole point.

Keep Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists small. Vikram should finish a ticket queue node in a few lines, not a 40-line dump.

Without Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists, a counter gets messy and a ticket queue node is hard to trust.

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists shows up in a counter. Name a ticket queue node, not “a real-world scenario”.

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists trap — losing the next pointer on delete. Vikram loses marks for that every viva.

After Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists, Vikram should still remember losing the next pointer on delete.

Close Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists with: “If I skip it, a ticket queue node goes wrong like this: losing the next pointer on delete.”

Diagram

  [10] → [20] → [30] → /
   head              tail

Exam tip

Board: a ticket queue node. Dry-run Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists. Name the trap: losing the next pointer on delete.

Example

# Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists
data = [4, 1, 3]
print("start", data)
if data[0] > data[1]:
    data[0], data[1] = data[1], data[0]
print("after one step", data)

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists: dry-run [4, 1, 3]. Say the list after one step.

Short notes

DefMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists — Vikram uses it for a ticket queue node in a counter.
RuleMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists → head → next → ….
RememberMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists + a dry-run table (a counter).
UseMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists in a counter (a ticket queue node).
TrapMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists — losing the next pointer on delete.
ExMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists → a ticket queue node.

DSA · Theory

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists

← All stacks

Theory

688/810

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists

Don’t start Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists with jargon. Start with a ticket queue node. That is the whole point.

Keep Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists small. Vikram should finish a ticket queue node in a few lines, not a 40-line dump.

Without Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists, a counter gets messy and a ticket queue node is hard to trust.

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists shows up in a counter. Name a ticket queue node, not “a real-world scenario”.

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists trap — losing the next pointer on delete. Vikram loses marks for that every viva.

After Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists, Vikram should still remember losing the next pointer on delete.

Close Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists with: “If I skip it, a ticket queue node goes wrong like this: losing the next pointer on delete.”

Diagram

  [10] → [20] → [30] → /
   head              tail

Exam tip

Board: a ticket queue node. Dry-run Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists. Name the trap: losing the next pointer on delete.

Example

# Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists
data = [4, 1, 3]
print("start", data)
if data[0] > data[1]:
    data[0], data[1] = data[1], data[0]
print("after one step", data)

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists: dry-run [4, 1, 3]. Say the list after one step.

Short notes

DefMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists — Vikram uses it for a ticket queue node in a counter.
RuleMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists → head → next → ….
RememberMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists + a dry-run table (a counter).
UseMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists in a counter (a ticket queue node).
TrapMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists — losing the next pointer on delete.
ExMerge Two Sorted Linked Lists → a ticket queue node.

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists

Example

Short notes

Questions

Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists

Example

Short notes

Questions