find smallest value in linked list

Question

having trouble figuring this out, every time i run my code the program goes on forever, everything else in the linked list works perfectly well. including the delete.

public Node smallestValue() {
    Node current = firstL;
    int min = current.data;

    if (!isEmpty()) {
        while (current != null) {
            if (min < current.data) {
                min = current.data;
                current = current.next;
            }
        }
    } else {
        System.out.println("empty list");
    }

    System.out.println();
    System.out.println(min);

    return current;
}

And your condition is wrong. It should be if (min > current.data). — David G
– David G, Commented Nov 28, 2017 at 4:19

Ted Hopp · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-28 04:25:04Z

3

You need to advance current whether or not min < current.data. Just move the assignment to outside the if. (Also, as @0x499602D2 points out in a comment, to find the smallest value you need to change min when it is greater than current.data.)

while(current != null){
    if(min > current.data){
        min = current.data;
    }
    current = current.next;
}

It might be cleaner to do this as a for loop:

for (Node current = firstL, int min = current.data;
     current != null;
     current = current.next)
{
    min = Math.min(min, current.data);
}

Because this is inside the test for an empty list, this has the advantage of not crashing if firstL is null (which, I assume, cannot happen if the list is not empty).

edited Nov 28, 2017 at 4:25

answered Nov 28, 2017 at 4:19

Ted Hopp

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