Can we merge two unsorted lists in constant time?

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on merging two unsorted singly linked lists in constant time complexity, specifically $\mathcal{O}(1)$. Participants agree that by maintaining pointers to both the head and tail of the lists, one can append the second list to the first by setting the tail of the first list to point to the head of the second list. This approach eliminates the need to traverse the lists, thus achieving the desired constant time complexity.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of singly linked lists and their structure
  • Knowledge of pointer manipulation in programming languages like C
  • Familiarity with time complexity analysis
  • Basic algorithm design principles
NEXT STEPS
  • Study pointer manipulation techniques in C for linked list operations
  • Learn about time complexity and how to analyze algorithms
  • Explore different data structures and their performance characteristics
  • Investigate advanced linked list operations, such as splitting and reversing lists
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Software developers, computer science students, and anyone interested in optimizing linked list operations and understanding algorithm efficiency.

  • #31
I like Serena said:
That's it. (Mmm)

Great! Thank you! (Party)
 
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  • #32
Code: 
L1_tail.next=L2.head;
L1_tail=L2_tail;

If we would have an array $A$ and we would use a sentinel node, would it be like that? (Thinking)

Code: 
A[i].sentinel=A[j].list;
A[i].sentinel=A[j].sentinel
 

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