Given a linked list, remove the nth node from the end of list and return its head.

For example, given linked list: 1->2->3->4->5, and n = 2. After removing the second node from the end, the linked list becomes 1->2->3->5.

Note:
Given n will always be valid. Try to do this in one pass.

Two passes solution, O(n) time, O(1) space

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
/**
* Definition for singly-linked list.
* public class ListNode {
* int val;
* ListNode next;
* ListNode(int x) { val = x; }
* }
*/

public class Solution {
public ListNode removeNthFromEnd(ListNode head, int n) {
int length = 0;
ListNode dummy = new ListNode(0);
dummy.next = head;
ListNode first = head;
while (first != null){
length++;
first = first.next;
}
length -= n;
first = dummy;
while (length > 0){
first = first.next;
length--;
}
first.next = first.next.next;
return dummy.next;
}
}

One pass solution, O(n) time, O(1) space

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
/**
* Definition for singly-linked list.
* public class ListNode {
* int val;
* ListNode next;
* ListNode(int x) { val = x; }
* }
*/

public class Solution {
public ListNode removeNthFromEnd(ListNode head, int n) {
ListNode dummy = new ListNode(0);
dummy.next = head;
ListNode slow = dummy;
ListNode fast = dummy;
for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++){
fast = fast.next;
}
// if the two pointers are n nodes away, excluding themselves, then the while condition is "fast != null"
// if the two pointers are n - 1 nodes away, the condition should be "first.next != null"
while (fast != null){
fast = fast.next;
slow = slow.next;
}
slow.next = slow.next.next;
return dummy.next;
}
}