Thread: How to use linked lists / sentinel

Usually I get provided with a main.c and I just have to compile it and test the function.
Here I don't have it so I am not sure what to do.

Code:

int main()
{
    //what to write here ?
    return 0
}

How could I call the functions I want I am a bit lost. For example to initalize the list, it needs to exist right ? So in the main I need to create an empty list ?
Then I need to print it ? I have all in my mind but I am not sure how to write all that and in what order

I get this error multiples times "dereferencing pointer to incomplete type ‘struct list"

Originally Posted by centrecmercial

I tried to write the second function

You might want to add a check to make sure that the input parameter is not NULL. This check could be added to all of the functions, to avoid getting run time errors if the input pointer is NULL.

Code:

int list_is_empty(struct list *list)
{
    if (list == NULL || list -> next == NULL)
    {
        return 1;
    }
    return 0;
}

Originally Posted by centrecmercial

Wait wait wait I want to be sure I have understood. Is this correct?

Code:

 void list_push_front(struct list *list, struct list *elm){
    list = list -> next;
    list -> data = *elm;
}

It inserts an element in front of the sentinel

What that code is doing is replacing the data of the first element of the list (not including the sentinel node) with the data from elm . What it should be doing is setting the node elm to point to the first element of the list, then set the sentinel to point to elm. The node member data should not be modified.

I just noticed the due date was Dec 7, so probably no more questions from the OP. I hope the issues were solved. In my opinion, the list structure should have been named "node" instead, since it defines a single node, while a list should refer to a set of linked nodes (the set could be empty, have a single node, or multiple nodes). For a working pointer to node, I would have used a name like pnode, nodeptr, or since the code called a single node elm, perhaps just call a working pointer tmp .