Question

How to construct a linked list from a 2d matrix with pointers to the right and down in C

Answer 1

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

#define SIZE 3

// Define the structure for a node
typedef struct Node {
    int data;
    struct Node* right;
    struct Node* down;
} Node;

// Function to create a new node
Node* createNode(int value) {
    Node* newNode = (Node*)malloc(sizeof(Node));
    if (!newNode) {
        printf("Memory allocation failed\n");
        exit(1);
    }
    newNode->data = value;
    newNode->right = NULL;
    newNode->down = NULL;
    
    return newNode;
}

// Function to construct a 2D linked list from a 2D matrix
Node* constructLinkedList(int matrix[][SIZE], int rows, int cols) {
    Node* head = NULL;
    Node* prevRow[SIZE] = {NULL}; // Array to track previous row nodes

    for (int i = 0; i < rows; i++) {
        Node* rowHead = NULL;
        Node* prevNode = NULL;

        for (int j = 0; j < cols; j++) {
            Node* newNode = createNode(matrix[i][j]);

            if (!rowHead) rowHead = newNode; // Set the head of the current row
            if (prevNode) prevNode->right = newNode; // Link the previous node in the row

            if (prevRow[j]) prevRow[j]->down = newNode; // Link the node above in the column

            prevNode = newNode;
            prevRow[j] = newNode; // Update the previous row tracker
        }

        if (!head) head = rowHead; // Set the head of the entire linked list
    }

    return head;
}

// Function to print the 2D linked list
void printLinkedList(Node* head) {
    Node* row = head;

    while (row) {
        Node* col = row;
        while (col) {
            printf("%d ", col->data);
            col = col->right;
        }
        printf("\n");
        row = row->down;
    }
}

// Function to free the 2D linked list
void freeLinkedList(Node* head) {
    Node* row = head;

    while (row) {
        Node* col = row;
        while (col) {
            Node* temp = col;
            col = col->right;
            free(temp);
        }
        row = row->down;
    }
}

int main() {
    int matrix[SIZE][SIZE] = {
        {1, 2, 3},
        {4, 5, 6},
        {7, 8, 9}
    };

    Node* head = constructLinkedList(matrix, SIZE, SIZE);

    printLinkedList(head);
    freeLinkedList(head); // Clean up memory

    return 0;
}


/*
run:

1 2 3 
4 5 6 
7 8 9 

*/

 

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