Problem Understanding
Given a linked list, swap every two adjacent nodes and return its head. You must solve the problem without modifying the values in the list's nodes (i.e., only nodes themselves may be changed).
Example: 1->2->3->4 becomes 2->1->4->3.
Attempt 1: Swapping Values
We could just iterate through the list and swap curr.val with curr.next.val. This is easy and perfectly fine in many real-world scenarios, but interviewers explicitly ban it to test your pointer manipulation skills.
Visualizing the Issue
To swap nodes A and B (prev -> A -> B -> next), we need to change 3 pointers:
prev.nextshould point toB.A.nextshould point tonext.B.nextshould point toA.
The Intuition: Iterative vs Recursive
Recursive: Swap the first two nodes, then recursively call the function for the rest of the list.
Iterative: Use a dummy node and a prev pointer to handle swaps in a loop.
Interactive Walkthrough
Initializing...
Watch how the pointers are re-wired to swap nodes.
- Problem Understanding
- Attempt 1: Swapping Values
- Visualizing the Issue
- The Intuition: Iterative vs Recursive
- Interactive Walkthrough
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