Deleting node from linked list - c++

Question

The delete from last functionality does not work properly. It shows that the node has been deleted but when I display it, it gets into an infinite loop and displays junk. Couldn't figure what's wrong!
Here's the code:
using namespace std;
class List
{
struct NODE
{
int item;
NODE *next;
};
NODE *Head,*Tail;
public:
List()
{
Head=NULL;
Tail=NULL;
}
~List()
{
while(Head->next!=NULL)
{
Delete_At_Head();
}
Delete_At_Head();
}
void Add_At_First(int);
void Add_At_Last(int);
void Delete_At_Head();
void Delete_At_Tail();
int Is_Empty();
void display();
};
void List::Add_At_First(int data)
{
NODE *temp;
temp=new NODE;
if(Head==NULL)
{
temp->item=data;
temp->next=NULL;
Head=temp;
Tail=Head;
}
else
{
temp->item=data;
temp->next=Head;
Head=temp;
}
cout<<"Node added at first!\n";
}
void List::Add_At_Last(int data)
{
NODE *temp;
temp=new NODE;
temp->item=data;
temp->next=NULL;
if(Head==NULL)
{
Head=temp;
Tail=temp;
}
else
{
Tail->next=temp;
Tail=temp;
}
cout<<"Node added at last!\n";
}
void List::Delete_At_Head()
{
NODE *temp;
temp=new NODE;
temp->item=Head->item;
temp->next=Head->next;
delete Head;
Head=temp->next;
delete temp;
cout<<"Node deleted from head!\n";
}
void List::Delete_At_Tail()//Problematic part
{
NODE *temp,*prev;
temp=new NODE;
prev=new NODE;
temp=Head;
while(temp->next!=NULL)
{
prev=temp;
temp=temp->next;
}
prev->next=NULL;
delete temp;
delete Tail;
Tail=prev;
delete prev;
cout<<"Node deleted from tail!\n";
}
int List::Is_Empty()
{
if(Head==NULL)
return 1;
else
return 0;
}
void List::display()//does not display after delete from tail
{
NODE *temp;
temp=new NODE;
temp->item=Head->item;
temp->next=Head->next;
do
{
cout<<temp->item<<"-->";
temp=temp->next;
}while(temp->next!=NULL);
cout<<temp->item;
}
int main()
{
List obj;
int ch,data;
do
{
cout<<"\n1.Display\n2.Add at first\n3.Add at last\n4.Delete at
head\n5.Delete at tail\n6.Exit\nEnter your choice: ";
cin>>ch;
switch(ch)
{
case 1:
{
if(obj.Is_Empty())
cout<<"List is Empty!\n";
else
obj.display();
break;
}
case 2:
{
cout<<"Enter data: ";
cin>>data;
obj.Add_At_First(data);
break;
}
case 3:
{
cout<<"Enter data: ";
cin>>data;
obj.Add_At_Last(data);
break;
}
case 4:
{
if(obj.Is_Empty())
cout<<"List is Empty!\n";
else
obj.Delete_At_Head();
break;
}
case 5:
{
if(obj.Is_Empty())
cout<<"List is Empty!\n";
else
obj.Delete_At_Tail();
break;
}
case 6:
{
break;
}
}
}while(ch!=6);
return 0;
}

Answer 1

The following should correctly delete the last item in the list:
void List::Delete_At_Tail()
{
if(Head == NULL) return;
// If only one item in the list, delete it and empty the list...
if(Head->next == NULL) {
delete Head;
Head = NULL;
Tail = NULL;
return;
}
// Find the last item in the list
NODE *temp = Head;
while(temp->next!=Tail)
{
temp=temp->next;
}
delete Tail;
temp->next=NULL;
Tail=temp;
cout<<"Node deleted from tail!\n";
}

Answer 2

You are definitely deleting too many objects in your Delete_At_Tail() (I assume this is the function you meant when you wrote delete_from_tail() or "delete from last"; when programming precision is everything!) function: you want to get rid of one object but you are deleteing three objects, including the predecessor of the deleted object. You should only delete the object you are removing and no other. Other than that the function looks OK.
BTW, since you are maintaining a pointer to the Tail you can improve the way to find the predecessor: you can find the node whose next is Tail. This avoids the awkward need to keep two variables up to date in the loop looking for the predecessor.