Open In App

Find length of loop in a Linked List using Map

Improve
Improve
Like Article
Like
Save
Share
Report

Write a program that checks whether a given Linked List contains a loop and if a loop is present then returns the count of nodes in the loop. For example, a loop is present in the below-linked list and the length of the loop is 4. If the loop is not present, then the function should return 0.
 

 

Approach: In this post, we will use the concept of Map to store the addresses of nodes present in the linked list as a key and their position as the values.

Below is the step-by-step approach:  

  1. Traverse every node of the linked list and maintain the position starting with one. Increment the position after every node.
  2. Check whether that node is present in the Map or not.
  3. If the map does not contain the address of that node, insert it into the map along with its position.
  4. If the map already contains the address of that node, return the difference between their positions.
  5. If no such node has been found, return 0.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++




// C++ program to find length of loop
// in a linked list using Map
 
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Linked List node
struct Node {
    int data;
    struct Node* next;
 
    Node(int num)
    {
        data = num;
        next = NULL;
    }
};
 
// Function detects and counts loop
// nodes in the list. If loop is not there,
// then returns 0
int countNodesinLoop(struct Node* head)
{
    struct Node* p = head;
    int pos = 0;
 
    // Maintain a map to store addresses
    // of node and their position
    unordered_map<Node*, int> m;
 
    // Traverse through the linked list
    while (p != NULL) {
 
        // If the node is not present in the map
        if (m.find(p) == m.end()) {
            m[p] = pos;
            pos++;
        }
 
        // if the node is present
        else {
 
            // Return difference between
            // position of the present node and
            // position where that node occurred before
            return (pos - m[p]);
        }
        p = p->next;
    }
 
    // Return 0 to indicate
    // there is no loop
    return 0;
}
 
// Driver code
int main()
{
    // Create nodes of the linked list
    struct Node* head = new Node(1);
    head->next = new Node(2);
    head->next->next = new Node(3);
    head->next->next->next = new Node(4);
    head->next->next->next->next = new Node(5);
 
    // Create a loop for testing the function
    head->next->next->next->next->next = head->next;
 
    // Call the function for the above linked list
    cout << countNodesinLoop(head) << endl;
 
    return 0;
}


Java




// Java program to find length of loop
// in a linked list using Map
import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
 
class GFG{
       
static class Node
{
    int data;
    Node next;
 
    // Constructor
    Node(int num)
    {
        data = num;
        next = null;
    }
}
   
// Function detects and counts loop
// nodes in the list. If loop is not there,
// then returns 0
public static int countNodesinLoop(Node head)
{
    Node p = head;
    int pos = 0;
     
    // Maintain a map to store addresses
    // of node and their position
    HashMap<Node,
            Integer> m = new HashMap<Node,
                                     Integer>();
 
    // Traverse through the linked list
    while (p != null)
    {
         
        // If the node is not present in the map
        if (!m.containsKey(p))
        {
            m.put(p, pos);
            pos++;
        }
 
        // If the node is present
        else
        {
             
            // Return difference between
            // position of the present
            // node and position where
            // that node occurred before
            return (pos - m.get(p));
        }
        p = p.next;
    }
 
    // Return 0 to indicate
    // there is no loop
    return 0;
}   
 
// Driver code
public static void main (String[] args)
{
     
      // Create nodes of the linked list
      Node head = new Node(1);
    head.next = new Node(2);
    head.next.next = new Node(3);
    head.next.next.next = new Node(4);
    head.next.next.next.next = new Node(5);
 
    // Create a loop for testing the function
    head.next.next.next.next.next = head.next;
 
    // Call the function for the above linked list
    System.out.println(countNodesinLoop(head));
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by adityapande88


Python3




# Python3 program to find length of loop
# in a linked list using Map
  
# Linked List node
class Node:   
    def __init__(self, data):       
        self.data = data
        self.next = None
  
# Function detects and counts loop
# nodes in the list. If loop is not there,
# then returns 0
def countNodesinLoop(head):
    p = head;
    pos = 0;
  
    # Maintain a map to store addresses
    # of node and their position
    m = dict()
  
    # Traverse through the linked list
    while (p != None):
  
        # If the node is not present in the map
        if (p not in m):           
            m[p] = pos;
            pos += 1
          
        # if the node is present
        else:
  
            # Return difference between
            # position of the present node and
            # position where that node occurred before
            return (pos - m[p]);       
        p = p.next;
      
    # Return 0 to indicate
    # there is no loop
    return 0;
  
# Driver code
if __name__=='__main__':
     
    # Create nodes of the linked list
    head = Node(1);
    head.next = Node(2);
    head.next.next = Node(3);
    head.next.next.next = Node(4);
    head.next.next.next.next = Node(5);
  
    # Create a loop for testing the function
    head.next.next.next.next.next = head.next;
  
    # Call the function for the above linked list
    print(countNodesinLoop(head))
     
    # This code is contributed by Pratham76


C#




// C# program to find length of loop
// in a linked list using Map
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
  
class GFG{
        
public class Node
{
    public int data;
    public Node next;
     
    // Constructor
    public Node(int num)
    {
        data = num;
        next = null;
    }
}
    
// Function detects and counts loop
// nodes in the list. If loop is not there,
// then returns 0
public static int countNodesinLoop(Node head)
{
    Node p = head;
    int pos = 0;
     
    // Maintain a map to store addresses
    // of node and their position
    Dictionary<Node,
               int> m = new Dictionary<Node,
                                       int>();
  
    // Traverse through the linked list
    while (p != null)
    {
         
        // If the node is not present in the map
        if (!m.ContainsKey(p))
        {
            m[p] = pos;
            pos++;
        }
  
        // If the node is present
        else
        {
             
            // Return difference between
            // position of the present
            // node and position where
            // that node occurred before
            return (pos - m[p]);
        }
        p = p.next;
    }
  
    // Return 0 to indicate
    // there is no loop
    return 0;
}   
  
// Driver code
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
     
    // Create nodes of the linked list
    Node head = new Node(1);
    head.next = new Node(2);
    head.next.next = new Node(3);
    head.next.next.next = new Node(4);
    head.next.next.next.next = new Node(5);
  
    // Create a loop for testing the function
    head.next.next.next.next.next = head.next;
  
    // Call the function for the above linked list
    Console.Write(countNodesinLoop(head));
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by rutvik_56


Javascript




<script>
 
// Javascript program to find length of loop
// in a linked list using Map
 
// Linked List node
class Node {
 
    constructor(num)
    {
        this.data = num;
        this.next = null;
    }
};
 
// Function detects and counts loop
// nodes in the list. If loop is not there,
// then returns 0
function countNodesinLoop(head)
{
    var p = head;
    var pos = 0;
 
    // Maintain a map to store addresses
    // of node and their position
    var m = new Map();
 
    // Traverse through the linked list
    while (p != null) {
 
        // If the node is not present in the map
        if (!m.has(p)) {
            m.set(p, pos);
            pos++;
        }
 
        // if the node is present
        else {
            // Return difference between
            // position of the present node and
            // position where that node occurred before
            return (pos - m.get(p));
        }
        p = p.next;
    }
 
    // Return 0 to indicate
    // there is no loop
    return 0;
}
 
// Driver code
// Create nodes of the linked list
var head = new Node(1);
head.next = new Node(2);
head.next.next = new Node(3);
head.next.next.next = new Node(4);
head.next.next.next.next = new Node(5);
 
// Create a loop for testing the function
head.next.next.next.next.next = head.next;
 
// Call the function for the above linked list
document.write( countNodesinLoop(head));
 
// This code is contributed by noob2000.
</script>


Output

4

Time Complexity: O(n) where n is size of linked list
Auxiliary Space: O(n) 

Similar Article: Find the length of a loop in a Linked list using Floyd’s Cycle detection algorithm
 



Last Updated : 23 Nov, 2022
Like Article
Save Article
Previous
Next
Share your thoughts in the comments
Similar Reads