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Make an int search(Object o) method for a stack that uses nodes

I'm trying to make a generic stack and queue class that uses the generic node class. It has empty(), pop(), peek(), push(), and a search() method. I know there is a built-in Stack class and stack search method but we have to make it by using the Node class.
I am unsure of how to make the search method. The search method is supposed to return the distance from the top of the stack of the occurrence that is nearest the top of the stack. The topmost item is considered to be at distance 1; the next item is at distance 2; etc.
My classes are below:
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class MyStack<E> implements StackInterface<E>
{
private Node<E> head;
private int nodeCount;
public static void main(String args[]) {
}
public E peek() {
return this.head.getData();
}
public E pop() {
E item;
item = head.getData();
head = head.getNext();
nodeCount--;
return item;
}
public boolean empty() {
if (head==null) {
return true;
} else {
return false;
}
}
public void push(E data) {
Node<E> head = new Node<E>(data);
nodeCount++;
}
public int search(Object o) {
// todo
}
}
public class Node<E>
{
E data;
Node<E> next;
// getters and setters
public Node(E data)
{
this.data = data;
this.next = null;
}
public E getData() {
return data;
}
public void setData(E data) {
this.data = data;
}
public Node<E> getNext() {
return next;
}
public void setNext(Node<E> next) {
this.next = next;
}
}
public class MyQueue<E> implements QueueInterface<E>
{
private Node<E> head;
private int nodeCount;
Node<E> rear;
public MyQueue()
{
this.head = this.rear = null;
}
public void add(E item){
Node<E> temp = new Node<E>(item);
if (this.rear == null) {
this.head = this.rear = temp;
return;
}
this.rear.next = temp;
this.rear = temp;
}
public E peek(){
return this.head.getData();
}
public E remove(){
E element = head.getData();
Node<E> temp = this.head;
this.head = this.head.getNext();
nodeCount--;
return element;
}
}
After working on it based off of the first comment I have this:
public int search(Object o){
int count=0;
Node<E> current = new Node<E> (head.getData());
while(current.getData() != o){
current.getNext();
count++;
}
return count;
}
It doesn't have any errors but I cannot tell if it is actually working correctly. Does this seem correct?

It needs the following improvements,
search method should have parameter of type 'E'. So, the signature should look like public int search(E element)
start the count with 1 instead of 0.As you have mentioned topmost item is considered to be at distance 1
initialize current with head, because creating a new node with data value of head(new node(head.getData())) will create an independent node with data same as head node; and the while will run only for the head node as current.getNext() will be null always. Node<E> current = head will create another reference variable pointing to the head.
Instead of != in condition, use if( !current.getData().equals(element.getData())) )
If using your own class as data type, don't forget to override equals method.
Change current.getNext(); to current = current.getNext();

You have problems with other method. Pay attention on top == null. To calculate search() all you need is just iterate over the elements and find position of required value:
public class MyStack<E> {
private Node<E> top;
private int size;
public void push(E val) {
Node<E> node = new Node<>(val);
node.next = top;
top = node;
size++;
}
public E element() {
return top == null ? null : top.val;
}
public E pop() {
if (top == null)
return null;
E val = top.val;
top = top.next;
size--;
return val;
}
public boolean empty() {
return size == 0;
}
public int search(E val) {
int res = 1;
Node<E> node = top;
while (node != null && node.val != val) {
node = node.next;
res++;
}
return node == null ? -1 : res;
}
private static final class Node<E> {
private final E val;
private Node<E> next;
public Node(E val) {
this.val = val;
}
}
}

I assume your MyStack class should be compatible with the Stack class provided by Java as you mention it in your question. This means that your signature public int search(Object o) matches the signature of java.util.Stack#search (apart from synchronised).
To implement the search method using your Node class, we need to traverse the stack and return the index of the first (uppermost) match. First, assign head to a local variable (current). Then you can create a loop where you current.getNext() at the end to get the next element. Stop if the next element is null as we have reached the end of the stack. In the loop, you either count up the index or return this index when the current element's data matches the argument o.
The evaluation needs to be able to deal with null values for your argument o. Therefore, you need to check for null first and adjust your logic accordingly. When o is null, do a null-check against current.getData(). If o is not null, check if current.getData() is equal to o with equals().
Here is a working example: (compatible with java.util.Stack#search)
public int search(Object o) {
int index = 1;
Node<E> current = head;
while (current != null) {
if (o == null) {
if (current.getData() == null) {
return index;
}
} else {
if (o.equals(current.getData())) {
return index;
}
}
current = current.getNext();
index++;
}
return -1; // nothing found
}
To test this, you can write a simple unit test with JUnit like this:
#Test
public void testMyStackSearch() {
// initialize
final MyStack<String> stack = new MyStack<>();
stack.push("e5");
stack.push("e4");
stack.push(null);
stack.push("e2");
stack.push("e1");
// test (explicitly creating a new String instance)
assertEquals(5, stack.search(new String("e5")));
assertEquals(3, stack.search(null));
assertEquals(2, stack.search(new String("e2")));
assertEquals(1, stack.search(new String("e1")));
assertEquals(-1, stack.search("X"));
}
Since you have already a reference implementation, you can replace MyStack with Stack (java.util.Stack) and see if your asserts are correct. If this runs successfully, change it back to MyStack and see if your implementation is correct.
Note: I do not recommend to actually use the Stack implementation in Java. Here, it just serves as a reference implementation for the java.util.Stack#search method. The Deque interface and its implementations offer a more complete and consistent set of LIFO stack operations, which should be used in preference to Stack.

Generic LinkedQueue, unable to reach head variable from inner iterator class

I have made my own implementation of a generic Linked Queue for class, it is pretty much finished, here it is:
public class LinkedQueue<T> implements Queue<T> {
//Using head & tail approach.
private myNode<T> head;
private myNode<T> tail;
private int size;
public LinkedQueue(){
this.head = null;
this.tail = head;
this.size = 0;
}
public myNode<T> getterHead(){ //couldn't bring myself to write "get" instead of "getter"
return this.head;
}
#Override
public int size() {
return this.size; //returns number of nodes
}
#Override
public boolean isEmpty() {
return this.head==null;
}
#Override
public void enqueue(T element) {
if(isEmpty()){
this.head = new myNode<T>(element);
this.tail = head;
size++;
}
else{
this.tail.next = new myNode<T>(element);
this.tail = tail.next;
size++;
}
}
#Override
public T dequeue() {
if(isEmpty())throw new NoSuchElementException("This queue is empty");
T returnObj = this.head.data; //saving the data of the first element(head)
//If there are at least 2 nodes, else.
if(head != tail){
this.head = head.getNext();
size--;
}
else{
this.head = null;
this.tail = head;
this.size = 0;
}
return returnObj;
}
#Override
public T first() {
return this.head.data;
}
#Override
public T last() {
return this.tail.data;
}
/* I absolutely can not get past this NullPointerException that is given every time
* I try to use the iterator. It seems that current.next is always null(doesn't point to head properly?).
* HOWEVER, if you change "curr" for "head", it works. */
#Override
public Iterator<T> iterator() {
return new GenericIterator();
}
private class GenericIterator implements Iterator<T>{
public myNode<T> curr = head;
public boolean hasNext() {
return (head != null && head.next != null);
}
public T next() {
T tmp = head.data; //saving current in a temporary node because we are changing the value of current in the next line
if(hasNext()){
head = head.next;
}
return tmp;
}
}
private class myNode<T> { //parameter type T hiding type T
public T data; //The generic data the nodes contain
public myNode<T> next; //Next node
//Node constructor
public myNode(T nData) {
this.data = nData;
this.next = null;
}
public myNode<T> getNext(){
return this.next;
}
}
}
Here is the part that is giving me trouble:
/* I absolutely can not get past this NullPointerException that is given every time
* I try to use the iterator. It seems that current.next is always null(doesn't point to head properly?).
* HOWEVER, if you change "curr" for "head", it works. */
#Override
public Iterator<T> iterator() {
return new GenericIterator();
}
private class GenericIterator implements Iterator<T>{
public myNode<T> curr = head; //doesn't work with getter either.
//public myNode<T> curr = getterHead();
public boolean hasNext() {
return (curr != null && curr.next != null);
}
public T next() {
T tmp = curr.data; //NPE HERE!
if(hasNext()){
curr = curr.next;
}
return tmp;
}
}
What I have tried is getters/setters and triple-checking every other method(they work). What seems to be the problem is that when I assign curr = head, it seems that the properties from myNode do not come with.
While head.next works fine, curr.next == null, even curr.data == null while head.data works.
I've tried with public properties and printing LinkedQueue.head.next etc, it works fine.
Stacktrace:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at dk222gw_lab4.Queue.LinkedQueue$GenericIterator.next(LinkedQueue.java:101)
at dk222gw_lab4.Queue.LinkedQueueMain.main(LinkedQueueMain.java:17)
Where line 101 & 17 are:
T tmp = curr.data; //node property .data & .next are null.
System.out.println(it.next()); //LinkedQueueMain.java(not included in post), both it.next() and it.hasNext() produce this NPE.

Need guidance on creating Node class (java)?

I need to implement a Node class, where the basic methods are: getItem(), getNext(), setItem() and setNext(). I want the nodes to be able to store at least the default integer range in Java as the “item”; the “next” should be a reference or pointer to the next Node in a linked list, or the special Node NIL if this is the last node in the list.I also want to implement a two-argument constructor which initializes instances with the given item (first argument) and next node (second argument) , I've kind of hit a brick wall and need some guidance about implementing this , any ideas ?
I have this so far:
class Node {
public Node(Object o, Node n) {
}
public static final Node NIL = new Node(Node.NIL, Node.NIL);
public Object getItem() {
return null;
}
public Node getNext() {
return null;
}
public void setItem(Object o) {
}
public void setNext(Node n) {
}
}

While implementing the custom LinkedList/Tree, we need Node. Here is demo of creating Node and LinkedList. I have not put in all the logic. Just basic skeleton is here and you can then add more on yourself.

I can give you a quick hint on how to do that:
Class Node{
//these are private class attributes, you need getter and setter to alter them.
private int item;
private Node nextNode;
//this is a constructor with a parameter
public Node(int item)
{
this.item = item;
this.nextNode = null;
}
// a setter for your item
public void setItem(int newItem)
{
this.item = newItem;
}
// this is a getter for your item
public int getItem()
{
return this.item;
}
}
You can create a Node object by calling:
Node newNode = Node(2);
This is not a complete solution for your problem, the two parameter constructor and the last node link are missing, but this should lead you in the correct direction.

Below is a simple example of the Node implementation, (i renamed Item to Value for readability purpose). It has to be implemented somehow like this, because methods signatures seems to be imposed to you. But keep in mind that this is definely not the best way to implement a LinkedList.
public class Node {
public static final Node NIL = null;
private Integer value;
private Integer next;
public Node(Integer value, Node next) {
this.value = value;
this.next = next;
}
public Integer getValue() {
return this.value;
}
public Node getNext() {
return this.next;
}
public void setValue(Integer value) {
this.value = value;
}
public void setNext(Node next) {
this.next = next;
}
public boolean isLastNode() {
return this.next == Node.NIL || Node;
}
}
public class App {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Node lastNode = new Node(92, Node.NIL);
Node secondNode = new Node(64, lastNode);
Node firstNode = new Node(42, secondNode);
Node iterator = firstNode;
do () {
System.out.println("node value : " + iterator.getValue());
iterator = iterator.getNext();
} while (iterator == null || !iterator.isLastNode());
}
}

The node class that will be implemented changes according to the linked list you want to implement. If the linked list you are going to implement is circular, then you could just do the following:
public class Node {
int data;
Node next = null;
public Node(int data){
this.data = data;
}
}
Then how are you going to implement the next node?
You are going to do it in the add method of the circularLinkedList class. You can do it as follows:
import java.util.*;
public class CircularLinkedList {
public CircularLinkedList() {}
public Node head = null;
public Node tail = null;
public void add(int data) {
Node newNode = new Node(data);
if(head == null) {
head = newNode;
}
else {
tail.next = newNode;
}
tail = newNode;
tail.next = head;
}
public void displayList() {
System.out.println("Nodes of the circular linked list: ");
Node current = head;
if(head == null) {
System.out.println("Empty list...");
}
else {
do {
System.out.print(" " + current.data);
current = current.next;
}while(current != head);
System.out.println();
}
}
}

Confused about choosing a loop to iterate a linked list

My problem is in the add method. I think I know what I want it to do but I can't figure out what type of loop I should use to look through the list. As you can see I started to make a if else loop but I couldn't figure out what I should use as the counter. I'm pretty sure I have the right logic in dealing with the add but I feel like I'm not quite there yet. I was thinking of using compareTo in some fashion.
import java.util.*;
public class OrderedLinkedList<E extends Comparable<E>>
{
private Node topNode;
private class Node
{
private E data;
private Node nextNode;
public Node(E data)
{
this.data = data;
nextNode = null;
}
}
public OrderedLinkedList()
{
topNode = null;
}
public boolean empty()
{
if(topNode == null)
return true;
return false;
}
public String toString()
{
String myString = "";
Node nextNode = topNode;
while(nextNode != null)
{
myString = topNode + " -> " + nextNode;
nextNode = topNode.nextNode;
}
return myString;
}
public void add(E data)
{
Node myNode = new Node(data);
Node priorNode = topNode;
Node currentNode = topNode;
if(___)
{
priorNode = currentNode;
currentNode = currentNode.nextNode;
}
else
{
priorNode.nextNode = myNode;
myNode.nextNode = currentNode;
}
}
}

Since you don't typically know the length of a linked list until you've walked down it, the usual thing would be to use a while loop (as you've done in your toString() method)

Perhaps using a doubly linked list would be more beneficial. Consider the following alterations to your class:
import java.util.*;
public class OrderedLinkedList<E extends Comparable<E>>
{
private Node head;
private Node tail;
private class Node
{
private E data;
private Node nextNode;
private Node prevNode;
public Node(E data)
{
this.data = data;
nextNode = null;
prevNode = null;
}
public void setNext(Node node)
{
this.nextNode = node;
}
public Node getNext()
{
return this.nextNode;
}
public void setPrev(Node node)
{
this.prevNode = node;
}
public Node getPrev()
{
return this.prevNode;
}
public E getData()
{
return this.data;
}
public int compareTo(Node that) {
if(this.getData() < that.getData())
{
return -1;
}
else if(this.getData() == that.getData()
{
return 0;
}
else
{
return 1;
}
}
}
public OrderedLinkedList()
{
head = new Node(null);
tail = new Node(null);
head.setNext(tail);
tail.setPrev(head);
}
public boolean empty()
{
if(head.getNext() == tail)
{
return true;
}
return false;
}
public void add(E data) {
Node tmp = new Node(data);
if(this.empty()) {
this.addNodeAfterNode(tmp, head);
} else {
Node that = head.getNext();
// this while loop iterates over the list until finding the correct
// spot to add the new node. The correct spot is considered to be
// when tmp's data is >= that's data, or the next node after 'that'
// is tail. In which case the node is added to the end of the list
while((tmp.compareTo(that) == -1) && (that.getNext() != tail)) {
that = that.getNext();
}
this.addNodeAfterNode(tmp, that);
}
}
private void addNodeAfterNode(Node addNode, Node afterNode)
{
addNode.setNext(afterNode.getNext());
afterNode.getNext().setPrev(addNode);
afterNode.setNext(addNode);
addNode.setPrev(afterNode);
}
}

return a linked list of first n elements

Ok guys I need to write a method; MyLinkedList getFirst(int n) – Returns a linked list of the first n elements. If the list is empty or n > size return null.
and I'm lost, I've done the mothods add, remove, add to middle, print a string of elements, and so on but this one has me stuck..
all I have so far is:
public MyLinkedList<E> getFirst(int n) {
if(n > size ) {
return null;
}
Node<E> current = head;
for (int i = 0; i == n; i++) {
current.next = new Node<E>(e);
}
}
I know this code is pretty wrong but its all I can think of been working on this assignment for a while and I'm just running out of steam I guess lol
Thanks for any and all help.

Create an empty list
Add the head to the list
Continuing adding the next node to the list until you have the first n nodes.

public MyLinkedList getFirstN(int n) {
MyLinkedList firstNList=new MyLinkedList();//create an empty list
if(n>size)
firstNList= null;
else {
Node tmp=head; //initialise tmp Node to the head(beginning) of list
for(int i=0;i<n;i++) {
firstNList.add(tmp);//add current node to the end of list
tmp=tmp.getNext();
}
}
return firstNList;
}
Implement the add(Node node) method to append a Node to the end of list.

You can use this as prototype and proceed with any operation
public class Node {
private int data;
private Node next;
public Node(int data) {
this.data = data;
}
public int getData() {
return data;
}
public void setData(int data) {
this.data = data;
}
public Node getNext() {
return next;
}
public void setNext(Node next) {
this.next = next;
}
public Node(int data, Node next) {
this.data = data;
this.next = next;
}
}
public class LinkedList {
private Node start;
public LinkedList() {
start = null;
}
public void insert(int x) {
if(start == null) {
start = new Node(x, start);
} else {
Node temp = start;
while(temp.getNext() != null) {
temp = temp.getNext();
}
Node newNode = new Node(x,null);
temp.setNext(newNode);
}
}
public void getFirst() {
if(start == null) {
System.out.println("\n List is empty !!");
}
else {
Node temp = start;
System.out.println("\n First Element is --->" + temp.getData());
}
}
}
public class MainClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LinkedList ll = new LinkedList();
System.out.println("\n--- Inserting 100 ---\n");
ll.insert(100);
ll.insert(101);
ll.insert(102);
ll.insert(103);
System.out.println("\n--- First Element ---\n");
ll.getFirst();
}
}