Leetcode•Jul 17, 2025

Linked List Cycle II

Hazrat Ali

Leetcode

There is a cycle in a linked list if there is some node in the list that can be reached again by continuously following the next pointer. Internally, pos is used to denote the index of the node that tail's next pointer is connected to (0-indexed). It is -1 if there is no cycle. Note that pos is not passed as a parameter.

Do not modify the linked list.

 

Example 1:

Input: head = [3,2,0,-4], pos = 1
Output: tail connects to node index 1
Explanation: There is a cycle in the linked list, where tail connects to the second node.

Example 2:

Input: head = [1,2], pos = 0
Output: tail connects to node index 0
Explanation: There is a cycle in the linked list, where tail connects to the first node.


Solution
/**
 * @param {ListNode} head
 * @return {ListNode}
 */
const detectCycle = head => {
  let slow = head;
  let fast = head;

  while (fast && fast.next) {
    slow = slow.next;
    fast = fast.next.next;

    if (slow === fast) {
      slow = head;

      while (slow !== fast) {
        slow = slow.next;
        fast = fast.next;
      }

      return slow;
    }
  }

  return null;
};



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