returning wrong address from pop function

Question

After solving other issues with my struct, my push works as intended however my pop returns the wrong address and I'm not sure why -

QNode* const Q_Pop(Q* const pointerQ){

   ...       // empty check

   QNode* tempNode = pointerQ->front.next;

   pointerQ->front.next = (tempNode->next);
   tempNode->next->prev = &(pointerQ->front);

   return tempNode;
}

I'm fairly certain my logic for the actual removal and relinking of the stack is correct but my use of pointers and returning them is messed up.

struct -

struct QueueNode {

   struct QueueNode *prev;     /* Previous list element. */
   struct QueueNode *next;     /* Next list element.    */
};

typedef struct QueueNode QNode;

struct Queue {
   QNode front;    // sentinel node at the front of the queue
   QNode rear;     // sentinel node at the tail of the queue
};

typedef struct Queue Q;

Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

You shouldn't be using "sentinel nodes"; this is pointless and very confusing. A queue can be simply represented as a QNode* to the first element. It always points to the first element; if it's NULL, the queue is empty; if element->next is NULL, it's the last element because there isn't a next one. It's very simple to work with that.

struct QueueNode {
    // stuff
    // stuff
    // stuff
    struct QueueNode* prev; // this may be optional
    struct QueueNode* next;
};
typedef struct QueueNode QNode;

void push_front(QNode** queue, QNode* pushme) {
    pushme->prev = NULL;
    pushme->next = *queue;
    (*queue)->prev = pushme;
    *queue = pushme;
}

void push_end(QNode** queue, QNode* pushme) {
    QNode* node = *queue;

    if (node) {
        while (node->next) node = node->next;
        node->next = pushme;
        pushme->prev = node;
        pushme->next = NULL;
    }
    else {
        *queue = pushme;
        (*queue)->next = (*queue)->prev = NULL;
    }
}

QNode* pop_front(QNode** queue) {
    QNode* node = *queue;

    if (node)
        *queue = node->next;

    return node;
}

QNode* pop_end(QNode** queue) {
    QNode* node = *queue;

    if (node) {
        while (node->next) node = node->next;
        if (node->prev) {
            node->prev->next = NULL;
            node->prev = NULL;
        }
        else
            *queue = NULL;
    }

    return node;
}


QNode* create_node_front(QNode** queue) {
    QNode* node = malloc(sizeof(QNode));
    push_front(queue, node);
    return node;
}

QNode* create_node_end(QNode** queue) {
    QNode* node = malloc(sizeof(QNode));
    push_end(queue, node);
    return node;
}

QNode* my_queue = NULL; // declare an empty queue
QNode* my_node = create_node_end(&my_queue); // create a new node, its already stored in the queue

I didn't test it, but it gives a general idea.

You can push with push_front() or create_node_front() (no loops, best performance) then pop with pop_end() to have a queue effect (FIFO), or pop with pop_front() to have a stack effect (LIFO).