Sorting Rail Cars
Function Name: sortRailCars
Description
Imagine a train sorting system where rail cars containing numbers need to be reordered according to their values. Each rail car is linked to the next, forming a chain. Your task is to write a function that receives a linked list representing a train of rail cars, and returns a linked list with the cars sorted in ascending order. You cannot use auxiliary arrays, pointers, or new data structures; the existing linked list must be manipulated to sort the cars.
Requirements
- The 'sortRailCars' function must take one parameter, which is the head of a linked list.
- Each node in the linked list has an 'intValue' representing the number on the rail car, and a 'next' reference pointing to the next car.
- The function must sort the linked list in ascending order by manipulating the nodes' 'next' references.
- Do not create any new nodes or linked lists.
- You may not use any built-in sorting methods.
- The linked list may not be converted into any other data structure for sorting.
- The function must be able to handle a linked list of at least 1,000 nodes without performance issues.
- Do not use recursion; an iterative solution is expected due to potential stack overflow concerns with large inputs.
Examples
Given a linked list: 4 -> 1 -> 3 -> 2, after calling 'sortRailCars(head)', the list should be: 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4.
Links
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