when to use a dummy node in linked list questions?
tags: learning leetcode programming
content
If there’s any chance the head changes — use a dummy node.
→ ChatGPT
- for the question “remove node from linked list”, the head doesn’t change. why is a dummy node still used?
- wrong! the head might change in this question
- if we have
[1 -> 2 -> 3]and we need to remove the 3rd node from the end, it’s actually the head that’s to be removed - hence the head changes! we need dummy node!