Add Middle of Linked List (Slow/Fast Pointers) (#7212)

* feat: implement Smooth Sort algorithm with detailed JavaDoc and test class

* style: format LEONARDO array for improved readability with clang-format

* feat: add MiddleOfLinkedList class and corresponding test cases

* docs: update documentation for MiddleOfLinkedList class

* test: refactor MiddleOfLinkedListTest to improve readability and assertions

* test: refactor MiddleOfLinkedListTest for improved null safety and readability

---------

Co-authored-by: Ahmed Allam <60698204+AllamF5J@users.noreply.github.com>
This commit is contained in:
Ahmed Allam
2026-01-16 13:33:29 +02:00
committed by GitHub
parent babc762478
commit fd0bcb79e6
2 changed files with 120 additions and 0 deletions

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package com.thealgorithms.datastructures.lists;
/**
* Returns the middle node of a singly linked list using the two-pointer technique.
*
* <p>The {@code slow} pointer advances by one node per iteration while {@code fast} advances by two.
* When {@code fast == null} or {@code fast.next == null}, {@code slow} points to the middle node.
* For even-length lists, this returns the <em>second</em> middle node.</p>
*
* <p>This method does not modify the input list.</p>
*
* <p>Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycle_detection#Floyd's_tortoise_and_hare</p>
*
* <p>Complexity:</p>
* <ul>
* <li>Time: {@code O(n)}</li>
* <li>Space: {@code O(1)}</li>
* </ul>
*/
public final class MiddleOfLinkedList {
private MiddleOfLinkedList() {
}
/**
* Returns the middle node of the list.
*
* @param head the head of the singly linked list; may be {@code null}
* @return the middle node (second middle for even-sized lists), or {@code null} if {@code head} is {@code null}
*/
public static SinglyLinkedListNode middleNode(final SinglyLinkedListNode head) {
if (head == null) {
return null;
}
SinglyLinkedListNode slow = head;
SinglyLinkedListNode fast = head;
while (fast != null && fast.next != null) {
slow = slow.next;
fast = fast.next.next;
}
return slow;
}
}