Find Length of a Linked List (Iterative and Recursive)

Difficulty Level : Basic
Last Updated : 20 Jan, 2022

Write a function to count the number of nodes in a given singly linked list.

linkedlist_find_length

For example, the function should return 5 for linked list 1->3->1->2->1.

Iterative Solution

1) Initialize count as 0 
2) Initialize a node pointer, current = head.
3) Do following while current is not NULL
     a) current = current -> next
     b) count++;
4) Return count

Following are the Iterative implementations of the above algorithm to find the count of nodes in a given singly linked list.

C++

// Iterative C++ program to find length 
// or count of nodes in a linked list 
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
/* Link list node */
class Node 
{ 
    public:
    int data; 
    Node* next; 
}; 
 
/* Given a reference (pointer to pointer) to the head 
of a list and an int, push a new node on the front 
of the list. */
void push(Node** head_ref, int new_data) 
{ 
    /* allocate node */
    Node* new_node =new Node();
 
    /* put in the data */
    new_node->data = new_data; 
 
    /* link the old list off the new node */
    new_node->next = (*head_ref); 
 
    /* move the head to point to the new node */
    (*head_ref) = new_node; 
} 
 
/* Counts no. of nodes in linked list */
int getCount(Node* head) 
{ 
    int count = 0; // Initialize count 
    Node* current = head; // Initialize current 
    while (current != NULL) 
    { 
        count++; 
        current = current->next; 
    } 
    return count; 
} 
 
/* Driver program to test count function*/
int main() 
{ 
    /* Start with the empty list */
    Node* head = NULL; 
 
    /* Use push() to construct below list 
    1->2->1->3->1 */
    push(&head, 1); 
    push(&head, 3); 
    push(&head, 1); 
    push(&head, 2); 
    push(&head, 1); 
 
    /* Check the count function */
    cout<<"count of nodes is "<< getCount(head); 
    return 0; 
} 
 
// This is code is contributed by rathbhupendra

C

// Iterative C program to find length or count of nodes in a linked list
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
 
/* Link list node */
struct Node
{
    int data;
    struct Node* next;
};
 
/* Given a reference (pointer to pointer) to the head
  of a list and an int, push a new node on the front
  of the list. */
void push(struct Node** head_ref, int new_data)
{
    /* allocate node */
    struct Node* new_node =
            (struct Node*) malloc(sizeof(struct Node));
 
    /* put in the data  */
    new_node->data  = new_data;
 
    /* link the old list off the new node */
    new_node->next = (*head_ref);
 
    /* move the head to point to the new node */
    (*head_ref)    = new_node;
}
 
/* Counts no. of nodes in linked list */
int getCount(struct Node* head)
{
    int count = 0;  // Initialize count
    struct Node* current = head;  // Initialize current
    while (current != NULL)
    {
        count++;
        current = current->next;
    }
    return count;
}
 
/* Driver program to test count function*/
int main()
{
    /* Start with the empty list */
    struct Node* head = NULL;
 
    /* Use push() to construct below list
     1->2->1->3->1  */
    push(&head, 1);
    push(&head, 3);
    push(&head, 1);
    push(&head, 2);
    push(&head, 1);
 
    /* Check the count function */
    printf("count of nodes is %d", getCount(head));
    return 0;
}

Java

// Java program to count number of nodes in a linked list
 
/* Linked list Node*/
class Node
{
    int data;
    Node next;
    Node(int d)  { data = d;  next = null; }
}
 
// Linked List class
class LinkedList
{
    Node head;  // head of list
 
    /* Inserts a new Node at front of the list. */
    public void push(int new_data)
    {
        /* 1 & 2: Allocate the Node &
                  Put in the data*/
        Node new_node = new Node(new_data);
 
        /* 3. Make next of new Node as head */
        new_node.next = head;
 
        /* 4. Move the head to point to new Node */
        head = new_node;
    }
 
    /* Returns count of nodes in linked list */
    public int getCount()
    {
        Node temp = head;
        int count = 0;
        while (temp != null)
        {
            count++;
            temp = temp.next;
        }
        return count;
    }
 
    /* Driver program to test above functions. Ideally
       this function should be in a separate user class.
       It is kept here to keep code compact */
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        /* Start with the empty list */
        LinkedList llist = new LinkedList();
        llist.push(1);
        llist.push(3);
        llist.push(1);
        llist.push(2);
        llist.push(1);
 
        System.out.println("Count of nodes is " +
                           llist.getCount());
    }
}

Python3

# A complete working Python program to find length of a
# Linked List iteratively
 
# Node class
class Node:
    # Function to initialise the node object
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data # Assign data
        self.next = None # Initialize next as null
 
 
# Linked List class contains a Node object
class LinkedList:
 
    # Function to initialize head
    def __init__(self):
        self.head = None
 
 
    # This function is in LinkedList class. It inserts
    # a new node at the beginning of Linked List.
    def push(self, new_data):
 
        # 1 & 2: Allocate the Node &
        #     Put in the data
        new_node = Node(new_data)
 
        # 3. Make next of new Node as head
        new_node.next = self.head
 
        # 4. Move the head to point to new Node
        self.head = new_node
 
 
    # This function counts number of nodes in Linked List
    # iteratively, given 'node' as starting node.
    def getCount(self):
        temp = self.head # Initialise temp
        count = 0 # Initialise count
 
        # Loop while end of linked list is not reached
        while (temp):
            count += 1
            temp = temp.next
        return count
 
 
# Code execution starts here
if __name__=='__main__':
    llist = LinkedList()
    llist.push(1)
    llist.push(3)
    llist.push(1)
    llist.push(2)
    llist.push(1)
    print ("Count of nodes is :",llist.getCount())

C#

// C# program to count number
// of nodes in a linked list
using System;
     
/* Linked list Node*/
public class Node
{
    public int data;
    public Node next;
    public Node(int d) 
    { 
        data = d; next = null; 
    }
}
 
// Linked List class
public class LinkedList
{
    Node head; // head of list
 
    /* Inserts a new Node at front of the list. */
    public void push(int new_data)
    {
        /* 1 & 2: Allocate the Node &
                Put in the data*/
        Node new_node = new Node(new_data);
 
        /* 3. Make next of new Node as head */
        new_node.next = head;
 
        /* 4. Move the head to point to new Node */
        head = new_node;
    }
 
    /* Returns count of nodes in linked list */
    public int getCount()
    {
        Node temp = head;
        int count = 0;
        while (temp != null)
        {
            count++;
            temp = temp.next;
        }
        return count;
    }
 
    /* Driver program to test above functions. Ideally
    this function should be in a separate user class.
    It is kept here to keep code compact */
    public static void Main()
    {
        /* Start with the empty list */
        LinkedList llist = new LinkedList();
        llist.push(1);
        llist.push(3);
        llist.push(1);
        llist.push(2);
        llist.push(1);
 
        Console.WriteLine("Count of nodes is " +
                        llist.getCount());
    }
}
 
/* This code contributed by PrinciRaj1992 */

Javascript

<script>
// javascript program to count number of nodes in a linked list
 
/* Linked list Node*/
class Node {
    constructor(val) {
        this.data = val;
        this.next = null;
    }
}
 
// Linked List class
var head; // head of list
 
    /* Inserts a new Node at front of the list. */
     function push(new_data) {
        /*
         * 1 & 2: Allocate the Node & Put in the data
         */
        var new_node = new Node(new_data);
 
        /* 3. Make next of new Node as head */
        new_node.next = head;
 
        /* 4. Move the head to point to new Node */
        head = new_node;
    }
 
    /* Returns count of nodes in linked list */
     function getCount() {
        var temp = head;
        var count = 0;
        while (temp != null) {
            count++;
            temp = temp.next;
        }
        return count;
    }
 
    /*
     * Driver program to test above functions. Ideally this function should be in a
     * separate user class. It is kept here to keep code compact
     */
     
        /* Start with the empty list */
        push(1);
        push(3);
        push(1);
        push(2);
        push(1);
 
        document.write("Count of nodes is " + getCount());
 
// This code contributed by Rajput-Ji 
</script>

Output:

count of nodes is 5

Recursive Solution

int getCount(head)
1) If head is NULL, return 0.
2) Else return 1 + getCount(head->next)

Following are the Recursive implementations of the above algorithm to find the count of nodes in a given singly linked list.

C++

// Recursive C++ program to find length
// or count of nodes in a linked list
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
/* Link list node */
class Node {
public:
    int data;
    Node* next;
};
 
/* Given a reference (pointer to pointer) to the head
of a list and an int, push a new node on the front
of the list. */
void push(Node** head_ref, int new_data)
{
    /* allocate node */
    Node* new_node = new Node();
 
    /* put in the data */
    new_node->data = new_data;
 
    /* link the old list off the new node */
    new_node->next = (*head_ref);
 
    /* move the head to point to the new node */
    (*head_ref) = new_node;
}
 
/* Recursively count number of nodes in linked list */
int getCount(Node* head)
{
    // Base Case
    if (head == NULL) {
        return 0;
    }
    // Count this node plus the rest of the list
    else {
        return 1 + getCount(head->next);
    }
}
 
/* Driver program to test count function*/
int main()
{
    /* Start with the empty list */
    Node* head = NULL;
 
    /* Use push() to construct below list
    1->2->1->3->1 */
    push(&head, 1);
    push(&head, 3);
    push(&head, 1);
    push(&head, 2);
    push(&head, 1);
 
    /* Check the count function */
    cout << "Count of nodes is " << getCount(head);
    return 0;
}
 
// This is code is contributed by rajsanghavi9

Java

// Recursive Java program to count number of nodes in 
// a linked list
 
/* Linked list Node*/
class Node
{
    int data;
    Node next;
    Node(int d)  { data = d;  next = null; }
}
 
// Linked List class
class LinkedList
{
    Node head;  // head of list
 
    /* Inserts a new Node at front of the list. */
    public void push(int new_data)
    {
        /* 1 & 2: Allocate the Node &
                  Put in the data*/
        Node new_node = new Node(new_data);
 
        /* 3. Make next of new Node as head */
        new_node.next = head;
 
        /* 4. Move the head to point to new Node */
        head = new_node;
    }
 
    /* Returns count of nodes in linked list */
    public int getCountRec(Node node)
    {
        // Base case
        if (node == null)
            return 0;
 
        // Count is this node plus rest of the list
        return 1 + getCountRec(node.next);
    }
 
    /* Wrapper over getCountRec() */
    public int getCount()
    {
        return getCountRec(head);
    }
 
    /* Driver program to test above functions. Ideally
       this function should be in a separate user class.
       It is kept here to keep code compact */
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        /* Start with the empty list */
        LinkedList llist = new LinkedList();
        llist.push(1);
        llist.push(3);
        llist.push(1);
        llist.push(2);
        llist.push(1);
 
        System.out.println("Count of nodes is " +
                           llist.getCount());
    }
}

Python3

# A complete working Python program to find length of a
# Linked List recursively
 
# Node class
class Node:
    # Function to initialise the node object
    def __init__(self, data):
        self.data = data  # Assign data
        self.next = None  # Initialize next as null
 
 
# Linked List class contains a Node object
class LinkedList:
 
    # Function to initialize head
    def __init__(self):
        self.head = None
 
 
    # This function is in LinkedList class. It inserts
    # a new node at the beginning of Linked List.
    def push(self, new_data):
 
        # 1 & 2: Allocate the Node &
        #        Put in the data
        new_node = Node(new_data)
 
        # 3. Make next of new Node as head
        new_node.next = self.head
 
        # 4. Move the head to point to new Node
        self.head = new_node
 
    # This function counts number of nodes in Linked List
    # recursively, given 'node' as starting node.
    def getCountRec(self, node):
        if (not node): # Base case
            return 0
        else:
            return 1 + self.getCountRec(node.next)
 
    # A wrapper over getCountRec()
    def getCount(self):
       return self.getCountRec(self.head)
 
# Code execution starts here
if __name__=='__main__':
    llist = LinkedList()
    llist.push(1)
    llist.push(3)
    llist.push(1)
    llist.push(2)
    llist.push(1)
    print ('Count of nodes is :',llist.getCount())

C#

// Recursive C# program to count number of nodes in 
// a linked list 
using System;
 
 
/* Linked list Node*/
public class Node 
{ 
    public int data; 
    public Node next; 
    public Node(int d) 
    { 
        data = d; next = null; 
    } 
} 
 
// Linked List class 
public class LinkedList 
{ 
    Node head; // head of list 
 
    /* Inserts a new Node at front of the list. */
    public void push(int new_data) 
    { 
        /* 1 & 2: Allocate the Node & 
                Put in the data*/
        Node new_node = new Node(new_data); 
 
        /* 3. Make next of new Node as head */
        new_node.next = head; 
 
        /* 4. Move the head to point to new Node */
        head = new_node; 
    } 
 
    /* Returns count of nodes in linked list */
    public int getCountRec(Node node) 
    { 
        // Base case 
        if (node == null) 
            return 0; 
 
        // Count is this node plus rest of the list 
        return 1 + getCountRec(node.next); 
    } 
 
    /* Wrapper over getCountRec() */
    public int getCount() 
    { 
        return getCountRec(head); 
    } 
 
    /* Driver program to test above functions. Ideally 
    this function should be in a separate user class. 
    It is kept here to keep code compact */
    public static void Main(String[] args) 
    { 
        /* Start with the empty list */
        LinkedList llist = new LinkedList(); 
        llist.push(1); 
        llist.push(3); 
        llist.push(1); 
        llist.push(2); 
        llist.push(1); 
 
        Console.WriteLine("Count of nodes is " + 
                        llist.getCount()); 
    } 
} 
 
// This code is contributed 29AjayKumar

Javascript

<script>
// Recursive javascript program to count number of nodes in 
// a linked list
 
/* Linked list Node*/
class Node {
    constructor(val) {
            this.data = val;
            this.next = null;
        }
    }
 
    // Linked List class
    var head; // head of list
 
    /* Inserts a new Node at front of the list. */
    function push( new_data) {
        /*
         * 1 & 2: Allocate the Node & Put in the data
         */
        var new_node = new Node(new_data);
 
        /* 3. Make next of new Node as head */
        new_node.next = head;
 
        /* 4. Move the head to point to new Node */
        head = new_node;
    }
 
    /* Returns count of nodes in linked list */
     function getCountRec(node) {
        // Base case
        if (node == null)
            return 0;
 
        // Count is this node plus rest of the list
        return 1 + getCountRec(node.next);
    }
 
    /* Wrapper over getCountRec() */
     function getCount() {
        return getCountRec(head);
    }
 
    /*
     * Driver program to test above functions. Ideally this function should be in a
     * separate user class. It is kept here to keep code compact
     */
     
        /* Start with the empty list */
     
        push(1);
        push(3);
        push(1);
        push(2);
        push(1);
 
        document.write("Count of nodes is " + getCount());
 
// This code contributed by gauravrajput1
</script>

Output:

Count of nodes is 5

This article is contributed by Ravi. Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above

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Table of Contents

Find Length of a Linked List (Iterative and Recursive)

C++

C

Java

Python3

C#

Javascript

C++

Java

Python3

C#

Javascript

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