Given a linked list having two pointers in each node. The first one points to the next node of the list, however, the other pointer is random and can point to any node of the list. Write a program that clones the given list in O(1) space, i.e., without any extra space.
Examples:
Input : Head of the below-linked list

Output :
A new linked list identical to the original list.
In the previous posts Set-1 and Set-2 various methods are discussed, and O(n) space complexity implementation is also available.
In this post, we’ll be implementing an algorithm that’d require no additional space as discussed in Set-1.
Below is the Algorithm:
- Create the copy of node 1 and insert it between node 1 & node 2 in the original Linked List, create a copy of 2 and insert it between 2 & 3. Continue in this fashion, add the copy of N after the Nth node
- Now copy the random link in this fashion
original->next->random= original->random->next; /*TRAVERSE
TWO NODES*/
- This works because original->next is nothing but a copy of the original and Original->random->next is nothing but a copy of the random.
- Now restore the original and copy linked lists in this fashion in a single loop.
original->next = original->next->next;
copy->next = copy->next->next;
- Ensure that original->next is NULL and return the cloned list

Below is the implementation.
C++
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
struct Node
{
int data;
Node *next,*random;
Node( int x)
{
data = x;
next = random = NULL;
}
};
void print(Node *start)
{
Node *ptr = start;
while (ptr)
{
cout << "Data = " << ptr->data << ", Random = "
<< ptr->random->data << endl;
ptr = ptr->next;
}
}
Node* clone(Node *start)
{
Node* curr = start, *temp;
while (curr)
{
temp = curr->next;
curr->next = new Node(curr->data);
curr->next->next = temp;
curr = temp;
}
curr = start;
while (curr)
{
if (curr->next)
curr->next->random = curr->random ?
curr->random->next : curr->random;
curr = curr->next?curr->next->next:curr->next;
}
Node* original = start, *copy = start->next;
temp = copy;
while (original && copy)
{
original->next =
original->next? original->next->next : original->next;
copy->next = copy->next?copy->next->next:copy->next;
original = original->next;
copy = copy->next;
}
return temp;
}
int main()
{
Node* start = new Node(1);
start->next = new Node(2);
start->next->next = new Node(3);
start->next->next->next = new Node(4);
start->next->next->next->next = new Node(5);
start->random = start->next->next;
start->next->random = start;
start->next->next->random =
start->next->next->next->next;
start->next->next->next->random =
start->next->next->next->next;
start->next->next->next->next->random =
start->next;
cout << "Original list : \n" ;
print(start);
cout << "\nCloned list : \n" ;
Node *cloned_list = clone(start);
print(cloned_list);
return 0;
}
|
Java
import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
public class GfG {
static class Node {
int data;
Node next, random;
Node( int x)
{
data = x;
next = random = null ;
}
}
static void print(Node start)
{
Node ptr = start;
while (ptr != null ) {
System.out.println( "Data = " + ptr.data
+ ", Random = "
+ ptr.random.data);
ptr = ptr.next;
}
}
static Node clone(Node start)
{
Node curr = start, temp = null ;
while (curr != null ) {
temp = curr.next;
curr.next = new Node(curr.data);
curr.next.next = temp;
curr = temp;
}
curr = start;
while (curr != null ) {
if (curr.next != null )
curr.next.random = (curr.random != null )
? curr.random.next
: curr.random;
curr = curr.next.next;
}
Node original = start, copy = start.next;
temp = copy;
while (original != null ) {
original.next =original.next.next;
copy.next = (copy.next != null ) ? copy.next.next
: copy.next;
original = original.next;
copy = copy.next;
}
return temp;
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Node start = new Node( 1 );
start.next = new Node( 2 );
start.next.next = new Node( 3 );
start.next.next.next = new Node( 4 );
start.next.next.next.next = new Node( 5 );
start.random = start.next.next;
start.next.random = start;
start.next.next.random = start.next.next.next.next;
start.next.next.next.random
= start.next.next.next.next;
start.next.next.next.next.random = start.next;
System.out.println( "Original list : " );
print(start);
System.out.println( "Cloned list : " );
Node cloned_list = clone(start);
print(cloned_list);
}
}
|
C#
using System;
class GFG
{
class Node
{
public int data;
public Node next, random;
public Node( int x)
{
data = x;
next = random = null ;
}
}
static void print(Node start)
{
Node ptr = start;
while (ptr != null )
{
Console.WriteLine( "Data = " + ptr.data +
", Random = " +
ptr.random.data);
ptr = ptr.next;
}
}
static Node clone(Node start)
{
Node curr = start, temp = null ;
while (curr != null )
{
temp = curr.next;
curr.next = new Node(curr.data);
curr.next.next = temp;
curr = temp;
}
curr = start;
while (curr != null )
{
if (curr.next != null )
curr.next.random = (curr.random != null )
? curr.random.next : curr.random;
curr = (curr.next != null ) ? curr.next.next
: curr.next;
}
Node original = start, copy = start.next;
temp = copy;
while (original != null && copy != null )
{
original.next = (original.next != null )?
original.next.next : original.next;
copy.next = (copy.next != null ) ? copy.next.next
: copy.next;
original = original.next;
copy = copy.next;
}
return temp;
}
public static void Main(String[] args)
{
Node start = new Node(1);
start.next = new Node(2);
start.next.next = new Node(3);
start.next.next.next = new Node(4);
start.next.next.next.next = new Node(5);
start.random = start.next.next;
start.next.random = start;
start.next.next.random = start.next.next.next.next;
start.next.next.next.random = start.next.next.next.next;
start.next.next.next.next.random = start.next;
Console.WriteLine( "Original list : " );
print(start);
Console.WriteLine( "Cloned list : " );
Node cloned_list = clone(start);
print(cloned_list);
}
}
|
Python
class Node:
def __init__( self , data):
self .data = data
self . next = None
self .random = None
def clone(original_root):
curr = original_root
while curr ! = None :
new = Node(curr.data)
new. next = curr. next
curr. next = new
curr = curr. next . next
curr = original_root
while curr ! = None :
curr. next .random = curr.random. next
curr = curr. next . next
curr = original_root
dup_root = original_root. next
while curr. next ! = None :
tmp = curr. next
curr. next = curr. next . next
curr = tmp
return dup_root
def print_dlist(root):
curr = root
while curr ! = None :
print ( 'Data =' , curr.data, ', Random =' , curr.random.data)
curr = curr. next
original_list = Node( 1 )
original_list. next = Node( 2 )
original_list. next . next = Node( 3 )
original_list. next . next . next = Node( 4 )
original_list. next . next . next . next = Node( 5 )
original_list.random = original_list. next . next
original_list. next .random = original_list
original_list. next . next .random = original_list. next . next . next . next
original_list. next . next . next .random = original_list. next . next . next . next
original_list. next . next . next . next .random = original_list. next
print ( 'Original list:' )
print_dlist(original_list)
cloned_list = clone(original_list)
print ( '\nCloned list:' )
print_dlist(cloned_list)
|
Javascript
<script>
class Node {
constructor(x) {
this .data = x;
this .next = this .random = null ;
}
}
function print(start) {
var ptr = start;
while (ptr != null ) {
document.write(
"Data = " +
ptr.data + ", Random = "
+ ptr.random.data+ "<br/>"
);
ptr = ptr.next;
}
}
function clone(start) {
var curr = start, temp = null ;
while (curr != null ) {
temp = curr.next;
curr.next = new Node(curr.data);
curr.next.next = temp;
curr = temp;
}
curr = start;
while (curr != null ) {
if (curr.next != null )
curr.next.random = (curr.random != null ) ?
curr.random.next : curr.random;
curr = (curr.next != null ) ?
curr.next.next : curr.next;
}
var original = start, copy = start.next;
temp = copy;
while (original != null && copy != null ) {
original.next = (original.next != null ) ?
original.next.next : original.next;
copy.next = (copy.next != null ) ?
copy.next.next : copy.next;
original = original.next;
copy = copy.next;
}
return temp;
}
var start = new Node(1);
start.next = new Node(2);
start.next.next = new Node(3);
start.next.next.next = new Node(4);
start.next.next.next.next = new Node(5);
start.random = start.next.next;
start.next.random = start;
start.next.next.random =
start.next.next.next.next;
start.next.next.next.random =
start.next.next.next.next;
start.next.next.next.next.random =
start.next;
document.write( "Original list : <br/>" );
print(start);
document.write( "<br>" );
document.write( "Cloned list : <br/>" );
var cloned_list = clone(start);
print(cloned_list);
</script>
|
OutputOriginal list :
Data = 1, Random = 3
Data = 2, Random = 1
Data = 3, Random = 5
Data = 4, Random = 5
Data = 5, Random = 2
Cloned list :
Data = 1, Random = 3
Data = 2, Random = 1
Data = 3, Random = 5
Data = 4, Random = 5
Data = 5, Random = 2
Time Complexity: O(n) As we are moving through the list thrice, i.e. 3n , but in asymptotic notations we drop the constant terms
Auxiliary Space: O(1) As no extra space is used. The n nodes which are inserted in between the nodes was already required to clone the list, so we can say that we did not use any extra space.
This article is contributed by Ashutosh Kumar 😀 If you like GeeksforGeeks and would like to contribute, you can also write an article using write.geeksforgeeks.org or mail your article to review-team@geeksforgeeks.org. See your article appearing on the GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks.