Transform linked list to adjacency list
Last updated: September 8, 2025
Quick Overview
Given a singly linked list where each node contains a value and a reference to the next node, transform the linked list into an adjacency list representation of a graph. Each node's value will represent a vertex, and the adjacency list should reflect the connections between the vertices based on the linked list's structure. The output should be a list of lists, where each inner list contains the neighbors of the corresponding vertex.
Uber
September 8, 20259
11
622 solved
Given a singly linked list where each node contains a value and a reference to the next node, transform the linked list into an adjacency list representation of a graph. Each node's value will represent a vertex, and the adjacency list should reflect the connections between the vertices based on the linked list's structure. The output should be a list of lists, where each inner list contains the neighbors of the corresponding vertex.
Uber uses this problem in the Onsite to evaluate your algorithmic thinking. They expect you to discuss multiple approaches, analyze trade-offs between them, and implement the optimal solution with clean, readable code.
What the Interviewer Expects
- Quickly identify the optimal approach and its theoretical basis
- Handle complex algorithm design with multiple interacting components
- Write concise, elegant code under time pressure
- Prove correctness of your approach and discuss alternative solutions
- Optimize beyond the obvious: discuss constant factor improvements
- Address follow-up variations and explain how the solution generalizes
Key Topics to Cover
How to Approach This
- Clarify input constraints and edge cases before writing code.
- Walk through your approach verbally and confirm with the interviewer before coding.
- Start with a brute force solution, then optimize. Mention time and space complexity.
- Test your solution with examples, including edge cases like empty input or duplicates.
- Consider common patterns: sliding window, two pointers, hash map, BFS/DFS, dynamic programming.
Possible Follow-up Questions
- Can you solve this iteratively instead of recursively (or vice versa)?
- What happens if the input contains duplicates?
- How would you parallelize this solution?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Problem Analysis
In this problem, we need to convert a singly linked list into an adjacency list representation of a graph. The linked list defines the connections among vertices, where each node's value corresponds t...
Approach
To transform the linked list into an adjacency list, we can follow these steps:
- Initialize an empty list called
adjacency_listthat will hold the neighbors for each vertex. - Create a pointer to...
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