Check if two linked lists merge. If so, where?

Question

This question may be old, but I couldn\'t think of an answer.

Say, there are two lists of different lengths, merging at a point; how do we know wher

Answer 1

Use Map or Dictionary to store the addressess vs value of node. if the address alread exists in the Map/Dictionary then the value of the key is the answer. I did this:

int FindMergeNode(Node headA, Node headB) {

Map map = new HashMap();

while(headA != null || headB != null)
{
    if(headA != null && map.containsKey(headA.next))
    {
        return map.get(headA.next);
    }

    if(headA != null && headA.next != null)
    {
         map.put(headA.next, headA.next.data);
         headA = headA.next;
    }

    if(headB != null && map.containsKey(headB.next))
    {
        return map.get(headB.next);
    }

    if(headB != null && headB.next != null)
    {
        map.put(headB.next, headB.next.data);
        headB = headB.next;
    }
}

return 0;
}