This notebook was prepared by [Donne Martin](http://donnemartin.com). Source and license info is on [GitHub](https://github.com/donnemartin/interactive-coding-challenges).

Solution Notebook

Problem: Implement a linked list with insert, append, find, delete, length, and print methods

Constraints

  • Is this a singly or doubly linked list?
    • Singly
  • Is this a circular list?
    • No
  • Do we keep track of the tail or just the head?
    • Just the head

Test Cases

Insert to Front

  • Insert a None
  • Insert in an empty list
  • Insert in a list with one element or more elements

Append

  • Append a None
  • Append in an empty list
  • Insert in a list with one element or more elements

Find

  • Find a None
  • Find in an empty list
  • Find in a list with one element or more matching elements
  • Find in a list with no matches

Delete

  • Delete a None
  • Delete in an empty list
  • Delete in a list with one element or more matching elements
  • Delete in a list with no matches

Length

  • Length of zero or more elements

Print

  • Print an empty list
  • Print a list with one or more elements

Algorithm

Insert to Front

  • If the data we are inserting is None, return
  • Create a node with the input data
  • If this is an empty list
    • Assign the head to the node
  • Else
    • Set the node.next to the head
    • Set the head to the node

Complexity:

  • Time: O(1)
  • Space: O(1)

Append

  • If the data we are inserting is None, return
  • Create a node with the input data
  • If this is an empty list
    • Assign the head to the node
  • Else
    • Iterate to the end of the list
    • Set the final node's next to the new node

Complexity:

  • Time: O(n)
  • Space: O(1)

Find

  • If data we are finding is None, return
  • If the list is empty, return
  • For each node
    • If the value is a match, return it
    • Else, move on to the next node

Complexity:

  • Time: O(n)
  • Space: O(1)

Delete

  • If data we are deleting is None, return
  • If the list is empty, return
  • For each node, keep track of previous and current node
    • If the value we are deleting is a match in the current node
      • Update previous node's next pointer to the current node's next pointer
      • We do not have have to explicitly delete in Python
    • Else, move on to the next node

Complexity:

  • Time: O(n)
  • Space: O(1)

Length

  • For each node
    • Increase length counter

Complexity:

  • Time: O(n)
  • Space: O(1)

Print

  • For each node
    • Print the node's value

Complexity:

  • Time: O(n)
  • Space: O(1)

Code


In [1]:
%%writefile linked_list.py
class Node(object):

    def __init__(self, data, next_node=None):
        self.next = next_node
        self.data = data

    def __str__(self):
        return self.data


class LinkedList(object):

    def __init__(self, head=None):
        self.head = head

    def __len__(self):
        curr = self.head
        counter = 0
        while curr is not None:
            counter += 1
            curr = curr.next
        return counter

    def insert_to_front(self, data):
        if data is None:
            return
        node = Node(data)
        if self.head is None:
            self.head = node
        else:
            node.next = self.head
            self.head = node
        return node

    def append(self, data, next_node=None):
        if data is None:
            return
        node = Node(data, next_node)
        if self.head is None:
            self.head = node
        else:
            curr_node = self.head
            while curr_node.next is not None:
                curr_node = curr_node.next
            curr_node.next = node
        return node

    def find(self, data):
        if data is None:
            return
        if self.head is None:
            return
        curr_node = self.head
        while curr_node is not None:
            if curr_node.data == data:
                return curr_node
            else:
                curr_node = curr_node.next
        return

    def delete(self, data):
        if data is None:
            return
        if self.head is None:
            return
        prev_node = self.head
        curr_node = prev_node.next
        while curr_node is not None:
            if curr_node.data == data:
                prev_node.next = curr_node.next
                return
            else:
                prev_node = curr_node
                curr_node = curr_node.next

    def print_list(self):
        curr_node = self.head
        while curr_node is not None:
            print(curr_node.data)
            curr_node = curr_node.next

    def get_all_data(self):
        data = []
        curr_node = self.head
        while curr_node is not None:
            data.append(curr_node.data)
            curr_node = curr_node.next
        return data


Overwriting linked_list.py

In [2]:
%run linked_list.py

Unit Test


In [3]:
%%writefile test_linked_list.py
from nose.tools import assert_equal


class TestLinkedList(object):

    def test_insert_to_front(self):
        print('Test: insert_to_front on an empty list')
        linked_list = LinkedList(None)
        linked_list.insert_to_front(10)
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), [10])

        print('Test: insert_to_front on a None')
        linked_list.insert_to_front(None)
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), [10])

        print('Test: insert_to_front general case')
        linked_list.insert_to_front('a')
        linked_list.insert_to_front('bc')
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), ['bc', 'a', 10])

        print('Success: test_insert_to_front\n')

    def test_append(self):
        print('Test: append on an empty list')
        linked_list = LinkedList(None)
        linked_list.append(10)
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), [10])

        print('Test: append a None')
        linked_list.append(None)
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), [10])

        print('Test: append general case')
        linked_list.append('a')
        linked_list.append('bc')
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), [10, 'a', 'bc'])

        print('Success: test_append\n')

    def test_find(self):
        print('Test: find on an empty list')
        linked_list = LinkedList(None)
        node = linked_list.find('a')
        assert_equal(node, None)

        print('Test: find a None')
        head = Node(10)
        linked_list = LinkedList(head)
        node = linked_list.find(None)
        assert_equal(node, None)

        print('Test: find general case with matches')
        head = Node(10)
        linked_list = LinkedList(head)
        linked_list.insert_to_front('a')
        linked_list.insert_to_front('bc')
        node = linked_list.find('a')
        assert_equal(str(node), 'a')

        print('Test: find general case with no matches')
        node = linked_list.find('aaa')
        assert_equal(node, None)

        print('Success: test_find\n')

    def test_delete(self):
        print('Test: delete on an empty list')
        linked_list = LinkedList(None)
        linked_list.delete('a')
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), [])

        print('Test: delete a None')
        head = Node(10)
        linked_list = LinkedList(head)
        linked_list.delete(None)
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), [10])

        print('Test: delete general case with matches')
        head = Node(10)
        linked_list = LinkedList(head)
        linked_list.insert_to_front('a')
        linked_list.insert_to_front('bc')
        linked_list.delete('a')
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), ['bc', 10])

        print('Test: delete general case with no matches')
        linked_list.delete('aa')
        assert_equal(linked_list.get_all_data(), ['bc', 10])

        print('Success: test_delete\n')

    def test_len(self):
        print('Test: len on an empty list')
        linked_list = LinkedList(None)
        assert_equal(len(linked_list), 0)

        print('Test: len general case')
        head = Node(10)
        linked_list = LinkedList(head)
        linked_list.insert_to_front('a')
        linked_list.insert_to_front('bc')
        assert_equal(len(linked_list), 3)

        print('Success: test_len\n')


def main():
    test = TestLinkedList()
    test.test_insert_to_front()
    test.test_append()
    test.test_find()
    test.test_delete()
    test.test_len()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()


Overwriting test_linked_list.py

In [4]:
%run -i test_linked_list.py


Test: insert_to_front on an empty list
Test: insert_to_front on a None
Test: insert_to_front general case
Success: test_insert_to_front

Test: append on an empty list
Test: append a None
Test: append general case
Success: test_append

Test: find on an empty list
Test: find a None
Test: find general case with matches
Test: find general case with no matches
Success: test_find

Test: delete on an empty list
Test: delete a None
Test: delete general case with matches
Test: delete general case with no matches
Success: test_delete

Test: len on an empty list
Test: len general case
Success: test_len