Let's Play Coding! :D: Implementing Duplicate Removal Operation on Linked List - Data Structures

Problem Question

To implement operation on a Linked List that removes duplicate values.

Explanation of Problem

In this program we would be implementing a Linked List. Make sure you have a strong understanding of pointers to understand Linked Lists. A linked list is a basic data structure that is used in dynamic memory allocation applications. It comprises of 'nodes' which are linked together to form a sequence of nodes called Linked List. The linkage is done using memory addresses of adjacent nodes (next node in singly linked list, and both next & previous node in doubly linked list).

In this program we use a struct to implement the node of our linked list. We will implement addition function to get some data in linked list before we can perform desired operations on it. Adding a new node to the list means, creating a new node structure, allocating memory to it and linking it to the list.

Code

#include<iostream>

/**@Title: LinkedList v1.8.cpp*
*@Programming Paradigm: Procedural*
*@Language: C++*
*@Compiler: GNU GCC*
*@IDE: Code::Blocks 13.12*
*@Author: Rogue Coder*
*@URL: http://letsplaycoding.blogspot.com/*
*@Date: 09-01-2015*
*/

struct node
{
  int data;
  node* next;
};

void addAtLast(node** rootNode);
node* removeDuplicates(node* rootNode);
void displayList(node* rootNode);

int main()
{
  int choice;
  node *startList = NULL;
  std::cout << "Welcome to LinkedList v1.8" << std::endl << "Made by Rogue Coder" << std::endl;
  do
  {
    std::cout << std::endl << "1 : Add a Node to the list" <<
         std::endl << "2 : Remove Duplicates from the List" <<
         std::endl << "3 : Display List" <<
         std::endl << "4 : Exit" <<
         std::endl << "Enter your choice : ";
    std::cin>>choice;
    switch(choice)
    {
    case 1:
        addAtLast(&startList);
        break;
    case 2:
        startList = removeDuplicates(startList);
        break;
    case 3:
        displayList(startList);
        break;
    case 4:
      std::cout<<std::endl<<"Thank you for using LinkedList v1.8"<<std::endl<<"Made by Rogue Coder"
           <<std::endl<<"Press any key to exit"<<std::endl;
      break;
    default:
      std::cout<<"\a\aWrong Choice\a\a"<<std::endl;
      break;
    }
  }
  while(choice != 4);
  std::cin.get();
  return 0;
}

void addAtLast(node** rootNode)
{
   node* newNode = new node;
   std::cout<<std::endl<<"Enter data : ";
   std::cin>>newNode -> data;
   if(*rootNode == NULL)
   {
      *rootNode = newNode;
   }
   else
   {
       node* currentNode = *rootNode;
       while(currentNode->next != NULL)
       {
           currentNode = currentNode->next;
       }
       currentNode -> next = newNode;
   }
   newNode -> next = NULL;
}

node* removeDuplicates(node* rootNode)
{
    if (rootNode == NULL)
    {
        std::cout << "List Empty!";
        return rootNode;
    }
    node *currentNode = rootNode;
    node *thisNode, *prevNode;
    while (currentNode)
    {
        thisNode = currentNode -> next;
        prevNode = currentNode;
        while (thisNode)
        {
            if (thisNode -> data == currentNode -> data)
            {
                prevNode -> next = thisNode -> next;
                delete(thisNode);
                thisNode = prevNode -> next;
            }
            else
            {
                prevNode = thisNode;
                thisNode = thisNode -> next;
            }
        }
        currentNode = currentNode -> next;
    }
    return rootNode;
}

void displayList(node* rootNode)
{
  node *currentNode = rootNode;
  if(currentNode == NULL)
  {
    std::cout<<std::endl<<"\aList Empty\a"<<std::endl;
  }
  else
  {
    std::cout<<std::endl;
    while(currentNode != NULL)
    {
      std::cout<<currentNode->data<<"->";
      currentNode=currentNode->next;
    }
    std::cout<<"End of List"<<std::endl;
  }
}

Explanation of Code

#include <iostream> -> The compiler calls the Preprocessor to include the IOSTREAM(Standard Input / Output Streams Library) header file into the program, thus letting the use of the Standard Input / Output Streams functions like std::cin and std::cout. As per C++11 specification, including <iostream> automatically includes also <ios>, <streambuf>, <istream>, <ostream> and <iosfwd>.

int main() -> The entry point of the program where the execution starts. This function has to be named main. As per the ANSI specification, the return type has to be int. Since the return type is specified as int in my program, I have to use a return statement at the end of my code. So I use return 0 since zero returned from a function, by convention, implies a correct execution of the program. The return values are used to debug the program.

std::cin (extern istream cin) -> Standard Input Stream, and object of class istream. It is generally used with the extraction operator (>>), though we can use member functions like get (cin.get()), read (cin.read()), etc. for the input. The use of extraction operator is much more popular due to the fact that it aids in getting formatted input.

std::cout (extern ostream cout) -> Standard Output Stream, and object of class ostream. It is generally used with the insertion operator (<<), though we can use member functions like write (cout.write()) for the output. The use of insertions operator is much more popular due to the fact that it aids in giving formatted output.

using namespace std; -> In modern IDEs, we have to explicitly write std::cout instead of cout to use the ostream cout object. Namespace std helps in easing off the pain of writing std:: again and again. Though make sure you are not trapped! The classes defined in std should not be redefined by you. So in case you want to define a class 'distance', you can't do so if you have used std namespace. Though you can define 'Distance' (capital D).

std::endl (ostream& endl (ostream& os)) -> This is a function which is used to insert a newline character and flush the stream. Because this function is a manipulator, it is designed to be used alone with no arguments in conjunction with the insertion (<<) operations on output streams.

struct node
{
int data;
node* next;
}; ->
This is where we create the struct node that is going to be the building block of our linked list. It comprises of an int 'data' where the user shall store the data they wish. Please note, you can use as many variables and of as many types in the struct, but be sure you handle them correctly. For simplicity we have used int type in our case. The other variable inside our node is 'next', which is a pointer to node. This would be used to build the linkage between the nodes of our linked list. 'next' is going to hold the address of the next node in the sequence.

node* startList; -> The global pointer ‘startList’ which we are going to use to point to the first node/root node/ start node of the linked list, we are going to implement in this program.

int choice; -> This variable 'choice' will be used for the user’s choice in the menu driven program.

void addAtLast(node** rootNode)
{
   node* newNode = new node;
   std::cout<<std::endl<<"Enter data : ";
   std::cin>>newNode -> data;
   if(*rootNode == NULL)
   {
      *rootNode = newNode;
   }
   else
   {
       node* currentNode = *rootNode;
       while(currentNode->next != NULL)
       {
           currentNode = currentNode->next;
       }
       currentNode -> next = newNode;
   }
   newNode -> next = NULL;
} ->
This function is used to add a new node at the end of our linked list. It asks for user input and the data is stored in the ‘newNode’ which is the pointer to the new node that we are going to add to our list. The first statement of this function means, memory is allocated for a node type variable and a pointer is returned which we capture in the variable ‘newNode’. After the user input the program checks if the list is empty which we come to know if the ‘rootNode’, i.e., root node of the linked list is initialised as yet or not. If the root node is not yet initialised for our list, we make the ‘rootNode’ pointer to point to the ‘newNode’ we just created. Else, we traverse through the list. Starting from the root node, we hold the position in a new pointer, ‘currentNode’. Since the last node’s ‘next’ won’t point to any node, thus we use currentNode->next != NULL for that. Till so is the case, we keep on assigning the address of the next node in sequence to the pointer ‘currentNode’. So as and when we encounter the last node in the list, we come out of the loop. The pointer ‘currentNode’ now holds the address to the last node in the list. So we define the ‘next’ for this last node of ours as the newNode we just created. Now the next of newNode is set to NULL, hence the newNode is added at the end of the list.

node* removeDuplicates(node* rootNode)
{
    if (rootNode == NULL)
    {
        std::cout << "List Empty!";
        return rootNode;
    }
    node *currentNode = rootNode;
    node *thisNode, *prevNode;
    while (currentNode)
    {
        thisNode = currentNode -> next;
        prevNode = currentNode;
        while (thisNode)
        {
            if (thisNode -> data == currentNode -> data)
            {
                prevNode -> next = thisNode -> next;
                delete(thisNode);
                thisNode = prevNode -> next;
            }
            else
            {
                prevNode = thisNode;
                thisNode = thisNode -> next;
            }
        }
        currentNode = currentNode -> next;
    }
    return rootNode;
} ->
This function implements the logic to remove the duplicate nodes from the list and return the rootNode back to function call.
We first check if the list is empty. We check this by checking if rootNode points to NULL. If so, we return the prompt to the user.
We are using 3 pointers to do rest of the job. 'currentNode' is used to iterate through the list. 'thisNode' is used to iterate through all the values after currentNode, to compare value and find duplicates. 'prevNode' holds the value of node prior to 'thisNode'.
We have 2 loops, the outer loop which iterates throug curretNode is used to go through the list one by one. The ineer loop, which uses thisNode compares the values of the list with currentNode to find and remove duplicate values.
We start comparing the first value with every value in the list from second value onwards. If we find this value, we change successor of previous node to point to the node next to thisNode. Thus, in effect, we orphan thisNode from the list. We then free the memory using the inbuilt function 'delete'. And we then make thisNode to point its original successor. If thisNode didnt old the value, we move the pointers prevNode and thisNode one position ahead, by making them point to the next nodes. Once we reach end of list, the control moves back to outer loop, and we start comparing the second value with rest of the values in the list using inner loop.
At the end of the function, we return back the address of rootNode to the function call.

void displayList(node* rootNode)
{
  node *currentNode = rootNode;
  if(currentNode == NULL)
  {
    std::cout<<std::endl<<"\aList Empty\a"<<std::endl;
  }
  else
  {
    std::cout<<std::endl;
    while(currentNode != NULL)
    {
      std::cout<<currentNode->data<<"->";
      currentNode=currentNode->next;
    }
    std::cout<<"End of List"<<std::endl;
  }
} ->
This function is used to display the list. The functions accepts the address of the root node as the argument. It then starts traversing through the list from root node, until it finds a node which points to NULL as the next element, indicating the end of list. While traversing through, the function displays the values held in each node on the screen separated by '->'.

do{..}while() -> The program loop which encapsulates the whole program. Until the user chooses to exit the program, the control loops within this.

exit(0); -> This function is used to exit the program with an error code as it's argument. '0' implies normal exit. Other values are used for debugging purposes.

std::cin.get() -> This statement is used to pause our program, until user presses a key. This function is not necessary in your program, I use it to see my outputs at a paused screen. If you use cmd to run your programs, you might not need this. If you use linux/unix you might not need this. Moreover, removing this line of code from this program, doesn't affect the functionality of the program.