23. Merge k Sorted Lists

Problem Link

Description

---

You are given an array of k linked-lists lists, each linked-list is sorted in ascending order.

Merge all the linked-lists into one sorted linked-list and return it.

 

Example 1:

Input: lists = [[1,4,5],[1,3,4],[2,6]]
Output: [1,1,2,3,4,4,5,6]
Explanation: The linked-lists are:
[
  1->4->5,
  1->3->4,
  2->6
]
merging them into one sorted list:
1->1->2->3->4->4->5->6

Example 2:

Input: lists = []
Output: []

Example 3:

Input: lists = [[]]
Output: []

 

Constraints:

• k == lists.length
• 0 <= k <= 104
• 0 <= lists[i].length <= 500
• -104 <= lists[i][j] <= 104
• lists[i] is sorted in ascending order.
• The sum of lists[i].length will not exceed 104.

Solution

---

Python3

# Definition for singly-linked list.
# class ListNode:
#     def __init__(self, val=0, next=None):
#         self.val = val
#         self.next = next
class Solution:
    def mergeKLists(self, lists: List[Optional[ListNode]]) -> Optional[ListNode]:
        if not lists: return None
 
        res = curr = ListNode(-1)
        pq = []
 
        for index, head in enumerate(lists):
            if head:
                heappush(pq, (head.val, index))
        
        while pq:
            val, index = heappop(pq)
 
            curr.next = lists[index]
            curr = curr.next
 
            lists[index] = lists[index].next
 
            if lists[index]:
                heappush(pq, (lists[index].val, index))
 
        return res.next