Merge k sorted linked lists and return it as one sorted list. Analyze and describe its complexity.
/**
* Definition for singly-linked list.
* struct ListNode {
* int val;
* ListNode *next;
* ListNode(int x) : val(x), next(NULL) {}
* };
*/
class Solution {
public:
ListNode* mergeTwoLists(ListNode* l1, ListNode* l2) {
ListNode *l = NULL, *head = NULL, *p = l1, *q = l2;
if (l1 == NULL)
return l2;
if (l2 == NULL)
return l1;
while (p && q)
{
if (head == NULL)
{
if (p->val < q->val)
{
head = l = p;
p = p->next;
l->next = NULL;
}
else
{
head = l = q;
q = q->next;
l->next = NULL;
}
}
else
{
if (p->val < q->val)
{
l->next = p;
l = p;
p = p->next;
l->next = NULL;
}
else
{
l->next = q;
l = q;
q = q->next;
l->next = NULL;
}
}
}
if (p)
l->next = p;
if (q)
l->next = q;
return head;
}
ListNode* mergeKLists(vector<ListNode*>& lists) {
if (lists.size() == 0)
return nullptr;
while (lists.size() > 1) {
lists.push_back(mergeTwoLists(lists[0], lists[1]));
lists.erase(lists.begin());
lists.erase(lists.begin());
}
return lists.front();
}
};