LeetCode 148. Sort List (javascript)

Given the head of a linked list, return the list after sorting it in ascending order.

Follow up: Can you sort the linked list in O(n logn) time and O(1) memory (i.e. constant space)?

Example 1:

Input: head = [4,2,1,3]
Output: [1,2,3,4]

Example 2:

Input: head = [-1,5,3,4,0]
Output: [-1,0,3,4,5]

Example 3:

Input: head = []
Output: []

Constraints:

The number of nodes in the list is in the range [0, 5 * 10⁴].
-10⁵ <= Node.val <= 10⁵

Idea:

Merge Sort (use slow and fast pointer to find the middle of the linked list and split them)

Time Complexity: O(nlogn)

Solution:

/**
 * Definition for singly-linked list.
 * function ListNode(val, next) {
 *     this.val = (val===undefined ? 0 : val)
 *     this.next = (next===undefined ? null : next)
 * }
 */
/**
 * @param {ListNode} head
 * @return {ListNode}
 */
var sortList = function(head) {
    // empty or one node
    if (head === null || head.next === null) 
        return head;
    let mid = getMid(head);
    let left = sortList(head);
    let right = sortList(mid);
    return merge(left, right);
};

function merge(list1, list2) {
    let newHead = new ListNode();
    let tail = new ListNode();
    tail = newHead;
    while (list1 !== null && list2 !== null) {
        if (list1.val < list2.val) {
            tail.next = list1;
            list1 = list1.next;
            tail = tail.next; 
        } else {
            tail.next = list2;
            list2 = list2.next;
            tail = tail.next; 
        }   
    }
    tail.next = (list1 !== null) ? list1 : list2;
    return newHead.next;
};

function getMid(head) {
    let slow = head;
    let fast = head;
    let midHead = null;
    while (fast !== null && fast.next !== null) {
        midHead = slow;
        slow = slow.next
        fast = fast.next.next;
    }
    let secondHalf = midHead.next;
    // !!!Important here:
    // disconnect, split them into two lists
    midHead.next = null;
    return secondHalf;
}