29(June) Identical Linked Lists

29. Identical Linked Lists

The problem can be found at the following link: Question Link

Problem Description

Given two singly linked lists, determine if they are identical. Two linked lists are identical if they have the same data elements in the same order.

Example:

Input:

LinkedList1: 1->2->3->4->5->6
LinkedList2: 99->59->42->20

Output:

false

Explanation: Both linked lists contain the same elements in the same order.

My Approach

1. Traversal and Comparison:

   • Traverse both linked lists simultaneously.

   • Compare data elements of corresponding nodes.

   • If at any point, data elements differ, return false.

   • If one list ends before the other, return false (lists are of different lengths).

   • If both lists are traversed completely without differences, return true.

2. Edge Cases:

   • Handle cases where one or both lists are empty.

3. Time and Space Complexity:

   • Expected Time Complexity: O(n), where n is the number of nodes in the longer list.

   • Expected Auxiliary Space Complexity: O(1), as no extra space is used apart from a few variables for pointers.

Code Snippets

C++

bool areIdentical(Node *head1, Node *head2) {
    while (head1 != nullptr && head2 != nullptr) {
        if (head1->data != head2->data)
            return false;
        head1 = head1->next;
        head2 = head2->next;
    }
    return (head1 == nullptr && head2 == nullptr);
}

Java

public class Solution {
    public boolean areIdentical(Node head1, Node head2) {
        while (head1 != null && head2 != null) {
            if (head1.data != head2.data)
                return false;
            head1 = head1.next;
            head2 = head2.next;
        }
        return (head1 == null && head2 == null);
    }
}

Python

def areIdentical(head1, head2):
    while head1 is not None and head2 is not None:
        if head1.data != head2.data:
            return False
        head1 = head1.next
        head2 = head2.next
    return head1 == head2

Contribution and Support

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