MHB Can we merge two unsorted lists in constant time?

Click For Summary
Merging two unsorted lists in constant time requires maintaining pointers to both the head and tail of each list. By ensuring that the tail of the first list points to the head of the second list, the merge operation can be completed in O(1) time. This approach avoids the need to traverse the lists, which would otherwise result in O(n) complexity. It is essential to keep track of these pointers correctly to facilitate efficient merging. Ultimately, the algorithm can return a pointer to the head of the merged list.
  • #31
I like Serena said:
That's it. (Mmm)

Great! Thank you! (Party)
 
Technology news on Phys.org
  • #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
 

Similar threads

Replies
9
Views
3K
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 20 ·
Replies
20
Views
4K
  • · Replies 29 ·
Replies
29
Views
4K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Replies
25
Views
4K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K