Linked List Cycle 2 (LeetCode 142) | Full solution with mathematical proof | Study Algorithms

Опубликовано: 03 Июнь 2026
на канале: Nikhil Lohia
20,022
898

Given a single linked list that contains a loop, find the node where the cycle starts. A very famous problem and an extension of detecting the loop. Using a slow pointer and fast pointer, can help to determine the meeting point. This video gives a mathematical proof on how the pointers meet at the start of loop. All along with diagrams and a dry-run of code in JAVA.

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:11 - Problem statement and description
02:11 - Brute Force approach to find the cycle start point
05:16 - Efficient solution to find the cycle start point
08:27 - Mathematical proof of Floyd-Warshall algorithm
14:52 - Dry-run of code
16:55 - Final Thoughts

Actual problem on LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/problems/linked-...

📚 Links to topics I talk about in the video:
Detect Cycle in Linked List:    • Linked List Cycle (LeetCode 141) | Full so...  
Linked List Introduction:    • Linked List Data Structure explained with ...  
Linked List Traversals:    • Traversing a Linked List | Challenges and ...  
Brute Force Method:    • Brute Force algorithms with real life exam...  
Time Complexity:    • Big O Notation Simplified to the MAX | Stu...  
Playlist on Linked Lists:    • Linked Lists  

📘 A text based explanation is available at: https://studyalgorithms.com

Code on Github: https://github.com/nikoo28/java-solut...
Test-cases on Github: https://github.com/nikoo28/java-solut...

📖 Reference Books:
Starting Learn to Code: https://amzn.to/36pU0JO
Favorite book to understand algorithms: https://amzn.to/39w3YLS
Favorite book for data structures: https://amzn.to/3oAVBTk
Get started for interview preparation: https://amzn.to/39ysbkJ

🔗 To see more videos like this, you can show your support on: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/studyalg...

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#leetcode #programming #linkedlists