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This approach leverages the fact that we have access to the node to be deleted and that deletion does not mean removing from memory but rather bypassing this node.
By copying the value from the next node to the node to be deleted and rearranging the pointers, we can effectively 'delete' the node without needing access to the head of the list.
Time Complexity: O(1) since we're performing constant-time operations.
Space Complexity: O(1) because we aren't using any auxiliary data structures.
1void deleteNode(struct ListNode* node) {
2 if (node == NULL || node->next == NULL) return;
3 struct ListNode* nextNode = node->next;
4 node->val = nextNode->val;
5 node->next = nextNode->next;
6 free(nextNode);
7}In C, we access the next node, copy its value into the current node, and link to its next pointer. Finally, we free the memory of the next node to clean up.
This approach uses two pointers to manage nodes, allowing for a genuine swap and linkage manipulation. It reinforces the conceptual understanding of linked list pointer adjustments.
Note: The fundamentals are the same as we still replace and link to carry out the 'deletion'.
Time Complexity: O(1), never fluctuating beyond direct node handling.
Space Complexity: O(1), not utilizing external structures.
1In C, we manage two pointers internally to achieve the same result, illustrating the necessity to understand pointer accessibility and connectivity.