Floyd's Cycle Detection Algorithm

[goungoun]

1. Floyd's Cycle Detection Algorithm
Floyd's Cycle Detection Algorithm, also known as the "tortoise and hare" algorithm, is an efficient way to detect the presence of a cycle in a linked list. The algorithm uses two pointers, a "slow" pointer and a "fast" pointer, that traverse the linked list at different speeds.

2. Working of the Algorithm
The slow pointer moves one step at a time, while the fast pointer moves two steps at a time. ​If the linked list contains a cycle, the fast pointer will eventually catch up to the slow pointer, and the two pointers will meet at some point in the cycle.​

On the other hand, if the linked list does not contain a cycle, the fast pointer will eventually reach the end of the list (i.e., the fast pointer or the next pointer of the fast pointer will become NULL).

3. Time Complexity and Space Complexity
The time complexity of this algorithm is O(n), where n is the number of nodes in the linked list, regardless of whether the list contains a cycle or not.The space complexity is O(1), as the algorithm only uses two pointers and does not require any additional data structures.

4. Advantages of Floyd's Cycle Detection Algorithm
The algorithm is efficient, with a time complexity of O(n) and a space complexity of O(1).
It does not require any additional data structures, making it memory-efficient.
The algorithm is simple to implement and understand.

Answered by Liner

[goungoun]

https://www.enjoyalgorithms.com/blog/detect-loop-in-linked-list