Sorted Singly Linked List to BST Java

Question

I currently have a sorted Linked List, and with a void return method, I need to recursively construct a balanced binary search tree from the list (which is referred to as the second parameter). And as parameters I can have only the LL Head, the root being created, and the length of the list.

The method cannot be destructive to the LL, and to test the tree afterwards I have a printTree and a treeDepth:

public static void makeBalancedTree(ListNode head, TreeNode root, int count)
{
    //here
}
public static void printTree(TreeNode root)
{
    if(root != null)
    { 
        //Print recursive left, center, recursive right
        printTree(root.left);
        System.out.print(root.data + " ");
        printTree(root.right);
    }   
}

public static int depth(TreeNode root)
{
    if (root == null)
        return -1;

    int deep;
    //Return larger of the two subtree's depths, +1
    deep = Math.max(depth(root.right), depth(root.left));
    return deep+1;
    }
public static int countList(ListNode head)
    {

        int count = 0;

        ListNode cursor = new ListNode();
        cursor = head;

        while (cursor.link != null)
        {
            cursor = cursor.link;
            ++count;
        }
        return count;

    }

The Linked List is already sorted, and the data in the list is going into the tree. And the tree should be balanced in the makeBalancedTree method. — xhjon, Apr 26 '15 at 12:26
Was the method signature for `makeBalancedTree` given to you, or did you specify it yourself? Are you quite certain the return type is `void`? — pjs, Apr 26 '15 at 15:25
I was told the method header, but none of the contents. Because the second param takes a TreeNode, the method creates a subtree with the param as the root. The call from main is `makeBalancedTree(list, tree, countList(list));` — xhjon, Apr 26 '15 at 15:29

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 27 '15 at 13:41

You specified Java, but I'm not going to write your homework solution for you so here's a working solution in Ruby.

class TreeBuilder
  attr_reader :root    # generate root instance var and getters

  # Constructor.  Initially the tree is empty.
  def initialize
    @root = nil
  end

  # This is the public front-end for building a binary tree from an
  # iterable set.  It invokes a recursive back-end.  
  def buildTree(aList)
    aList.sort!      # ensure list is sorted, delete this if you trust input
    # Hand the recursive back end an iterator and the initial list size,
    # make the returned result the root of the tree.
    @root = __build_tree__(aList.each, aList.size)
  end

  # Autocreate a Node class as a structure with a payload and
  # left and right subtree references.  This automagically has
  # setters and getters with the same name as the instance vars.    
  Node = Struct.new(:payload, :left, :right)

  # Recursive back end attempts to build subtrees.
  # This takes an Enumerator (Iterator if you prefer) for the
  # linked list, the current depth of this attempt (which is
  # how balance is maintained), and returns a Node reference.    
  def __build_tree__(list_enum, depth)
    if depth > 0      # If we're not too deep in the tree for balance...
      # Try constructing the left subtree first
      left = __build_tree__(list_enum, depth / 2)
      # Now for the current Node...
      # The begin/rescue block corresponds to a Java if/else check
      # on whether the Iterator "hasNext()".  Java can pre-check,
      # Ruby says "Just try getting the next value and catch the
      # exception if it's not there"
      begin
        # Try getting the next value from the linked list
        value = list_enum.next
      rescue StopIteration
        # If we ran out of values, bail out with just the "left" subtree
        return left
      end
      # If we succeeded in getting a value, construct the Node to store
      # it in, populate its left subtree, and try building and populating
      # the right subtree as well.
      return Node.new(value, left, __build_tree__(list_enum, (depth-1) / 2))
    end
    # Recursive base case - if we kept going, the tree would end up unbalanced
    return nil
  end
end

As I said above, this is actual working code in Ruby. It's up to you to map this to your assignment, but it contains the basic logic to iterate through your list and put each element in an appropriate location to end up with a balanced tree.

Sorted Singly Linked List to BST Java

1 Answers1