Linked List sorted insertion

Question

I'm trying to insert a request and sort it via priority, so highest(1) is first in the list.

public Node addByPriority(Object request, int priority) {
    size++;
    //creates a new node with a priority, owner and creator and sets its next node to the root
    Node newNode = new Node(request, priority);
    //node to store prev
    Node prevNode = null;
    //node to store current
    Node currNode = first;

    //cycle thru the nodes til either the priority is higher or current is null
    while (currNode != null && priority >= currNode.getPriority()) {
        prevNode = currNode;
        currNode = currNode.getNext();
    }
    if (prevNode == null) {
        newNode.setNext(first);
        first = newNode;
    }
    else {
        prevNode.setNext(newNode);
        newNode.setNext(currNode);
    }
    // what would be the return statement??
}

It says I need a return statement but not sure what has to be put, or if there's another way.

We don't know either. It's up to you to decide what this method is supposed to return. If it doesn't need to return anything, then change the return type to void. If you want it to return the node created for the new object, then return that node. If you want it to return another node, then decide which node it's supposed to return, and return it. — JB Nizet
– JB Nizet, Commented Nov 11, 2018 at 17:57

Mureinik · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-11 17:58:15Z

1

You didn't state what Node you're supposed to return, but it stands to reason that you'd return the newly created one:

return newNode;

answered Nov 11, 2018 at 17:58

Mureinik

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4 Comments

Naman Over a year ago

why a newNode? and I mean why not the head/first ?

RHH Over a year ago

It should add the node to the list but for some reason its not doing that

Naman Over a year ago

@Mureinik as i said earlier, why not the head ?

Mureinik Over a year ago

@nullpointer because adding an element won't necessarily change the head. It will however create a new node every time

Naman · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-11 17:59:25Z

0

You can return the head of the linked list as:

return first;

This can be helpful to access the updated list again.

answered Nov 11, 2018 at 17:59

Naman

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1 Comment

Naman Over a year ago

Inferred from few comments like able to print the whole list and from question so highest(1) is first in the list

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