Need help understanding python simple linked list program - python

Below is a simple linked list program, I know how a linked list works conceptually ( adding, removing, etc) but I am finding it hard to understand how it works from an object oriented design perspective.
Code:
class Node():
def __init__(self,d,n=None):
self.data = d
self.next_node = n
def get_next(self):
return self.next_node
def set_next(self,n):
self.next_node = n
def get_data(self):
return self.data
def set_data(self,d):
self.data = d
class LinkedList():
def __init__(self,r = None):
self.root = r
self.size = 0
def get_size(self):
return self.size
def add(self,d):
new_node = Node(d,self.root)
self.root = new_node
self.size += 1
def get_list(self):
new_pointer = self.root
while new_pointer:
print new_pointer.get_data()
new_pointer = new_pointer.get_next()
def remove(self,d):
this_node = self.root
prev_node = None
while this_node:
if this_node.get_data() == d:
if prev_node:
prev_node.set_next(this_node.get_next())
else:
self.root = this_node
self.size -= 1
return True
else:
prev_node = this_node
this_node = this_node.get_next()
return False
def find(self,d):
this_node = self.root
while this_node:
if this_node.get_data() == d:
return d
else:
this_node = this_node.get_next()
return None
myList = LinkedList()
myList.add(5)
myList.add(8)
myList.add(12)
myList.get_list()
I have couple questions here..
How is it storing the values. As far as I understand each variable can hold one value. So how does data / next_node hold multiple values. And does next_node hold the memory location of the next node?
new_pointer.get_data() How is new_pointer able to access get_data()? Don't we need to have an instance to access methods of Node?
This question may be silly, but I am quiet new to object oriented programming. If someone can answer these questions or post an external link addressing these questions it would be really helpful.
Thanks in advance.

next_node is an instance of Node and so it has its own data field. next_node is a reference to the node object, which is some memory address (however it is not a C-like pointer, as you don't need to dereference it or anything).
I'm assuming you are talking about get_list(). new_pointer is an instance of Node. (unless it is None, in which case you would never get into the get_data() call). When you do an add, you create this instance of Node and set root to it. Then in get_list you set new_pointer to root.

myList.root is storing one value only that is the root of the list. See initially when you do:
myList = LinkedList()
in memory myList.root = None (according to __init__ of LinkedList). Now:
myList.add(1)
Then this statement is called:
new_node = Node(d,self.root) #Note here self.root = None
and then:
def init(self,d,n=None):
self.data = d
self.next_node = n
So our list is : 1--> None.Now:
myList.add(2)
then again this statement is called:
new_node = Node(d,self.root) #Note here self.root has some value
now a new node object is created and its next is assigned to myList.root.
So our list becomes : 2-->1--> None
Going in similar fashion whole list is assigned.
Key thing to note here is that myList.root is always storing the top most node which in turn holds the next node and so on.
For your second question, it is quite clear from above explaination that always the object of class node is available to myList.root which in turn has next_node which is again an object of 'node'. So they all have access to 'get_data()' method.

Related

How to create a recursive function to delete node from linked list with given key in python?

I tried program to delete node from linked list recursively. My program is given below
class node:
def __init__(self, data=None):
self.data = data
self.next = None
class linkedList:
def __init__(self):
self.head=None
def printList(self):
cur = self.head
while(cur != None):
print(cur.data,end="->")
cur=cur.next
print("null")
def push(self,dat):
newNode = node(dat)
temp = self.head
self.head = newNode
newNode.next = temp
#staticmethod
def dnr(head, key):
if head is not None:
if head.data == key:
head=head.next
return head
if head is not None:
head.next = linkedList.dnr(head.next, key)
return head
return head
if __name__ == '__main__':
ll=linkedList()
ll.push(3)
ll.push(6)
ll.push(9)
ll.push(12)
ll.push(15)
ll.printList()
print("*******")
# ll.head = linkedList.dnr(ll.head,2)
linkedList.dnr(ll.head,9)
ll.printList()
The problem with this is that this does not work for first element.To make it work for first element I have to call the function like this
ll.head = linkedList.dnr(ll.head,2)
second thing is that I wanted my function to call this way
ll.dnr(2)
please tell me how to create a recursive function to delete node in linked list in python
I rewrote your code:
class node:
def __init__(self, data=None):
self.data = data
self.next = None
class linkedList:
def __init__(self):
self.__head=None
def printList(self):
cur = self.__head
while(cur != None):
print(cur.data,end="->")
cur=cur.next
print("null")
def push(self,dat):
newNode = node(dat)
temp = self.__head
self.__head = newNode
newNode.next = temp
#staticmethod
def __dnr(head, key):
if head is None:
return head
if head.data == key:
head = head.next
return head
head.next = linkedList.__dnr(head.next, key)
return head
#staticmethod
def dnr(listObj, key):
if listObj is None or listObj.__head is None:
return listObj
if listObj.__head.data == key:
listObj.__head = listObj.__head
listObj.__head = linkedList.__dnr(listObj.__head, key)
def deleteKey(self, key):
linkedList.dnr(self, key)
if __name__ == '__main__':
ll=linkedList()
ll.push(3)
ll.push(6)
ll.push(9)
ll.push(12)
ll.push(15)
ll.printList()
print("*******")
linkedList.dnr(ll, 9)
ll.deleteKey(12)
ll.printList()
I made head variable inside linkedList class private, it's not smart to give access outer world to class core components. And class core components should never leak to the outer world because if it's that not used properly that can cause errors. So I rewrote your dnr function and now it's more clear and it doesn't return head object which is core component of linkedList class. Now dnr function just check if passed listObj is valid and check if head is that node that should be deleted. After that it calls private static __dnr function to delete node with given key. Function deleteKey can be called like this ll.deleteKey(12), that is what you wanted.
Giving core component accessible through outer world is like giving bank customer access to a bank vault. Not everybody will try to steal money from it, but there will be someone who will try.
If you don't understand private variables follow this link.
I wanted my function to call this way ll.dnr(2)
Then you need to define an instance method. Your static function can serve a purpose, but as you noted, you really need to assign its return value back to your list's head attribute to be sure it also works when the original head node is removed. With your static method you cannot avoid this overhead, since that method has no knowledge about your linkedList instance.
You can achieve what you want simply by adding an instance method, that will rely on the existing static method and will deal with this assignment back to the instance's head attribute.
Add this to your linkedList class:
def remove(self, key):
self.head = linkedList.dnr(self.head, key)
Now in your main program you can do:
ll.remove(15)
Side note: you don't need the second if head is not None: check in your static method, as this condition will always be true when the execution reaches that point in your code. Just do the assignment to head.next unconditionally.
Addendum
If you want dnr itself to become an instance method (without addition of a remove method), then you need to temporarily cut off the head node from the list (even if you want to keep it), recur, and then conditionally add that cut-off node again (if it's key is not the one to delete).
It would look like this:
def dnr(self, key):
head = self.head
if head:
self.head = head.next # Skip
if head.data != key: # Need to restore it
self.dnr(key) # But first look further...
head.next = self.head # Prefix the removed node
self.head = head # ...and make it the head again
You would call like:
ll.dnr(15)

Why creating an instance of a class within a class method changes the 'self' argument?

I'm writing a linked list in Python and I've come across an issue which is really troublesome and terrible for debugging and I feel like I'm missing something about Python. I'm supposed to create a singly linked list with some basic functionalities. One of them is the take() function, which is meant to create a new list of n first elements of the original list.
However, creating a new instance of the LinkedList class seems to change the .self parameter and the variable node is modified, as the attribute .next is turned to None. In result, when creating a list and then trying to make a new one out of the n elements of it, the program runs indefinitely, but no matter which part I look at, I cannot find the loop or the reason behind it.
class LinkedList:
def __init__(self, head=None):
self.head = head
def is_empty(self):
if self.head == None:
return True
else:
return False
def add_last(self, node):
if self.is_empty():
self.head = node
return
nextEl = self.head
while True:
if nextEl.next is None:
nextEl.next = node
return
nextEl = nextEl.next
def take(self, n):
node = self.head
newHead = self.head
newHead.next = None
newList = LinkedList(newHead)
count = 0
while count < n:
newList.add_last(node.next)
node = node.next
count += 1
return newList
class Node:
def __init__(self, data, next=None):
self.data = data
self.next = next
Thank you for all your help.
In the take() function the line
newHead.next = None
modifies a node of the linked list, breaking this list. You can fix this as follows:
def take(self, n):
node = self.head
newHead = Node(self.head.data)
newList = LinkedList(newHead)
count = 0
while count < n:
newList.add_last(node.next)
node = node.next
count += 1
return newList
This, however, still will not work correctly since there is a problem with the add_last() function too. This function, I think, is supposed to add a node as the last element of a linked list, but since you do not modify the next attribute of the node, you actually append a whole linked list starting with that node. This can be fixed in the following way:
def add_last(self, node):
if self.is_empty():
self.head = node
return
nextEl = self.head
while True:
if nextEl.next is None:
nextEl.next = Node(node.data)
return
nextEl = nextEl.next
There are more issues. For example, take(sefl, n) will actually create a list of n+1 elements and will throw an exception if it is applied to a linked list that does not have that many elements.

My self-defined queue not printing properly

I'm currently doing a class assignment to create a Class Queue using linked list. My code is as follows:
class Node:
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
self.next = None
self.prev = None
class Queue:
def __init__(self):
self.front = None
self.rear = None
def enqueue(self, value):
newNode = Node(value)
if self.rear is None:
self.front = newNode
self.rear = self.front
else:
self.rear.next = newNode
self.rear.next.prev = self.rear
self.rear = self.rear.next
def dequeue(self):
if self.front is None:
return None
else:
to_remove = self.front.data
self.front = self.front.next
self.front.prev = None
return to_remove
def printQueue(self):
print('The elements in the queue are ')
element = self.front
while element is not None:
print(element, end = "")
element = element.next
myqueue = Queue()
for i in range(21):
if i % 3 == 0:
myqueue.enqueue(i)
elif i % 5 == 0:
myqueue.dequeue()
myqueue.printQueue()
But when I tried printing, it comes up like this:
<__main__.Node object at 0x000001EB465D8048><__main__.Node object at 0x000001EB465D8128><__main__.Node object at 0x000001EB465D8080><__main__.Node object at 0x000001EB465D80F0>
I searched on the internet and tried to change my code but it still shows up the same. I don't understand why though.
As the comment says, and I modified your questions itself, too. You have to print the value of the objects, not the objects themselves. It's not an error, just a little confusion on your part.
When you print out element you print the location of the object's memory.
<__main__.Node object at 0x000001EB465D8048><__main__.Node object at 0x000001EB465D8128><__main__.Node object at 0x000001EB465D8080><__main__.Node object at 0x000001EB465D80F0>
The hexadecimal values are addresses.
In order to access the value present at these locations use element.data instead of element.
First of all, that is not an error. Your printQueue function iterates the elements and prints each element. The type of each element is Node.
For example, your output contains the representation of the nodes:
The object below is a single node, defined in the __main__ function. Its type is Node Object and its memory address is 0x000001EB465D8048
<__main__.Node object at 0x000001EB465D8048>
To print a user friendly version of each node, the node class needs to override the __str__ method.
For example, if you would modify your Node class to have the following structure, then you could just use print(element, end = "\n") inside your printQueue method.
class Node:
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
self.next = None
self.prev = None
def __str__(self):
return str(self.data)
The output then would be
The elements in the queue are
9
12
15
18
Furthermore, while not directly related to your question, it's tangential enough that you might find it helpful. Python objects have both a __str__ and a __repr__method.
Simply put, the __str__ is used to represent the readable form of your object, and the __repr__ the unambiguous representation.
For more information on those 2 methods, this stackoverflow post does a good job at explaining them.

Not understanding some composition aspects (not composition)

I am brushing up on some data structures and algorithms with Python, so I am implementing an Unordered Linked list. Within the same file I first wrote a Node class followed by a List class. What I don't get is how the "current" variable in my search_item() method seems to be a node object or at least able to access the Node class methods and attributes. I noticed that if I comment out my add_node() method then "current" no longer has access to Node's methods. Now I am not explicitly using neither inheritance nor composition, so I am having a hard time seeing how current just gets to call get_next() the way the code is written below. I would think I'd have to declare current as: current = Node(self.head) but just current = self.head seems to work?
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
class Node:
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
self.next = None
def get_data(self):
return self.data
def set_data(self, d):
self.data = d
def get_next(self):
return self .next
def set_next(self, n):
self.next = n
class UnorderedList:
def __init__(self):
self.head = None
def add_node(self, item):
tmp = Node(item)
tmp.set_next(self.head)
self.head = tmp
def search_item(self, item):
current = self.head
# current = Node(self.head)
found = False
while current != None and not found:
if current.get_data() == item:
found = True
else:
current = current.get_next()
return found
Well if you comment out add_node then you do not add nodes to your linked list any longer therefore search_item will always see the initial value of self.head which is None.
Calling current.get_next() just works because via add_node you always ensure that self.head points either to None or to an instance of Node as tmp is created by tmp = Node(item) and then assigned to self.head = tmp. Therefore when setting current = self.head it will already refer to an instance of Node (or None) so you do not need to call current = Node(self.head).
I just recently came across the concept of duck typing and this old post of mine came to mind. It seems that this is what's at play and just didn't understand it at the time. 'current' is set to None by default, by when invoking any of the methods defined in the Node class, it is automatically defined as Node object.

How could I make this singly linked list into a doubly linked list?

I've created a linked list in Python, and it is singly linked. This works perfectly fine, but I want to implement it so it's doubly linked, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to do it.
# node class
class node:
def __init__(self):
self.data = None # contains the data
self.next = None # contains the reference to the next node
# linked list class
class linked_list:
def __init__(self):
self.cur_node = None
def add_node(self, data):
new_node = node() # create a new node
new_node.data = data
new_node.next = self.cur_node # link the new node to the 'previous' node.
self.cur_node = new_node # set the current node to the new one.
def list_print(self):
node = self.cur_node # cant point to ll!
while node:
print(node.data)
node = node.next
I know I need to add self.previous to the node class, and I think I need to add something to the linked list constructor and add_node function, but I'm not sure where to start.
I don't actually need to use this functionality in a program, I'm just trying to learn about how linked lists are implemented at a lower level.
It's not so much a coding problem as a conceptual problem. You need to figure out how you want your code to behave. Implementing the desired behavior is not (in this case) at all difficult.
Say we want these behaviors:
# construction
dlist = DoublyLinkedList()
# access to head and tail nodes
dlist.head # should return the head node
dlist.tail # should return the tail node
dlist.head.prev is None # should be True
dlist.tail.next is None # should be True
# adding nodes at both ends
dlist.add_head()
dlist.add_tail()
# iteration in both directions
for node in dlist:
# do something to the node
for node in reversed(dlist):
# do something to the node
When you have written out the desired behavior like this, you'll also have got some test code ready.
Now let's start by modifying the Node class (you should use CamelCase for class names):
class Node:
def __init__(self, data=None, prev=None, next=None):
self.data = data
self.prev = prev
self.next = next
def __repr__(self):
return '<{}, {}>'.format(self.data, self.next)
We add prev since that's obviously needed. But we also improve on your original version by having data and next as parameters, so you can have these values set when a node is created. And __repr__ is always nice to have, for debugging if not for anything else.
Now for the list itself. The key is, (a) instead of one cur_node, you need two handles on the list, which I've been calling head and tail, and (b) when adding nodes, the very first node is a special case where we have to make changes to both head and tail.
class DoublyLinkedList:
def __init__(self):
self.head = None
self.tail = None
def __repr__(self):
return '<DoublyLinkedList {}>'.format(self.head)
def add_head(self, data=None):
if self.head is None:
self.head = self.tail = Node(data) # the very fist node
else:
new_head = Node(data=data, next=self.head) # prev is None
self.head.prev = self.head = new_head
def add_tail(self, data=None):
if self.tail is None:
self.head = self.tail = Node(data) # the very first node
else:
new_tail = Node(data=data, prev=self.tail) # next is None
self.tail.next = self.tail = new_tail
# implements iteration from head to tail
def __iter__(self):
current = self.head
while current is not None:
yield current
current= current.next
# implements iteration from tail to head
def __reversed__(self):
current = self.tail
while current is not None:
yield current
current = current.prev
Let's test this
>>> dlist = DoublyLinkedList()
>>> print(dlist)
<DoublyLinkedList None>
>>> dlist.add_head(1)
>>> dlist.add_tail(2)
>>> dlist.add_tail(3)
>>> dlist.add_head(0)
>>> print(dlist) # __repr__ is such a nice thing to have
<DoublyLinkedList <0, <1, <2, <3, None>>>>>
>>> print(dlist.head)
<0, <1, <2, <3, None>>>>
>>> print(dlist.tail)
<3, None>
>>> print(dlist.head.prev is None, dlist.tail.next is None)
True, True
>>> print(dlist.tail.prev.next is dlist.tail)
True
>>> [node.data for node in dlist]
[0, 1, 2, 3]
>>> for node in reversed(dlist):
... print(node.data, node)
3 <3, None>
2 <2, <3, None>>
1 <1, <2, <3, None>>>
0 <0, <1, <2, <3, None>>>>
For a doubly linked list, you should have, each node should have a reference to the previous node. This means that you will need to modify your add and remove methods to also assign this reference.

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