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C++ Program For Swapping Kth Node From Beginning With Kth Node From End In A Linked List

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Given a singly linked list, swap kth node from beginning with kth node from end. Swapping of data is not allowed, only pointers should be changed. This requirement may be logical in many situations where the linked list data part is huge (For example student details line Name, RollNo, Address, ..etc). The pointers are always fixed (4 bytes for most of the compilers).
Example:

Input: 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5, K = 2
Output: 1 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 5 
Explanation: The 2nd node from 1st is 2 and 
2nd node from last is 4, so swap them.

Input: 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5, K = 5
Output: 5 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 1 
Explanation: The 5th node from 1st is 5 and 
5th node from last is 1, so swap them.

Illustration:

Approach: The idea is very simple find the k th node from the start and the kth node from last is n-k+1 th node from start. Swap both the nodes. 
However there are some corner cases, which must be handled

  1. Y is next to X
  2. X is next to Y
  3. X and Y are same
  4. X and Y don’t exist (k is more than number of nodes in linked list)

Below is the implementation of the above approach.

C++




// A C++ program to swap Kth node
// from beginning with kth node from end
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
  
// A Linked List node
struct Node 
{
    int data;
    struct Node* next;
};
  
/* Utility function to insert
   a node at the beginning */
void push(struct Node** head_ref, 
          int new_data)
{
    struct Node* new_node = 
    (struct Node*)malloc(sizeof(struct Node));
    new_node->data = new_data;
    new_node->next = (*head_ref);
    (*head_ref) = new_node;
}
  
/* Utility function for displaying 
   linked list */
void printList(struct Node* node)
{
    while (node != NULL) 
    {
        cout << node->data << " ";
        node = node->next;
    }
    cout << endl;
}
  
/* Utility function for calculating 
   length of linked list */
int countNodes(struct Node* s)
{
    int count = 0;
    while (s != NULL) 
    {
        count++;
        s = s->next;
    }
    return count;
}
  
/* Function for swapping kth nodes 
   from both ends of linked list */
void swapKth(struct Node** head_ref, int k)
{
    // Count nodes in linked list
    int n = countNodes(*head_ref);
  
    // Check if k is valid
    if (n < k)
        return;
  
    // If x (kth node from start) and
    // y(kth node from end) are same
    if (2 * k - 1 == n)
        return;
  
    // Find the kth node from the beginning 
    // of the linked list. We also find
    // previous of kth node because we
    // need to update next pointer of
    // the previous.
    Node* x = *head_ref;
    Node* x_prev = NULL;
    for (int i = 1; i < k; i++) 
    {
        x_prev = x;
        x = x->next;
    }
  
    // Similarly, find the kth node from
    // end and its previous. kth node
    // from end is (n-k+1)th node from 
    // beginning
    Node* y = *head_ref;
    Node* y_prev = NULL;
    for (int i = 1; i < n - k + 1; i++) 
    {
        y_prev = y;
        y = y->next;
    }
  
    // If x_prev exists, then new next of
    // it will be y. Consider the case
    // when y->next is x, in this case,
    // x_prev and y are same. So the statement
    // "x_prev->next = y" creates a self loop.
    // This self loop will be broken
    // when we change y->next.
    if (x_prev)
        x_prev->next = y;
  
    // Same thing applies to y_prev
    if (y_prev)
        y_prev->next = x;
  
    // Swap next pointers of x and y.
    // These statements also break self
    // loop if x->next is y or y->next is x
    Node* temp = x->next;
    x->next = y->next;
    y->next = temp;
  
    // Change head pointers when k is 1 or n
    if (k == 1)
        *head_ref = y;
    if (k == n)
        *head_ref = x;
}
  
// Driver code
int main()
{
    // Let us create the following
    // linked list for testing
    // 1->2->3->4->5->6->7->8
    struct Node* head = NULL;
    for (int i = 8; i >= 1; i--)
        push(&head, i);
  
    cout << "Original Linked List: ";
    printList(head);
  
    for (int k = 1; k < 9; k++) 
    {
        swapKth(&head, k);
        cout << 
        "Modified List for k = " << k << endl;
        printList(head);
    }
  
    return 0;
}


Output:

Original Linked List: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Modified List for k = 1
8 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

Modified List for k = 2
8 7 3 4 5 6 2 1

Modified List for k = 3
8 7 6 4 5 3 2 1

Modified List for k = 4
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Modified List for k = 5
8 7 6 4 5 3 2 1

Modified List for k = 6
8 7 3 4 5 6 2 1

Modified List for k = 7
8 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

Modified List for k = 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Complexity Analysis:

  • Time Complexity: O(n), where n is the length of the list. 
    One traversal of the list is needed.
  • Auxiliary Space: O(1). 
    No extra space is required.

Please refer complete article on Swap Kth node from beginning with Kth node from end in a Linked List for more details!



Last Updated : 23 Dec, 2021
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