ft_list_size — Count Linked List Elements

Allowed functions: none

Write a function that returns the number of elements in the linked list that's passed to it.

int	ft_list_size(t_list *begin_list);

You must use the following structure, and turn it in as a file called ft_list.h:

typedef struct    s_list
{
    struct s_list *next;
    void          *data;
}                 t_list;

Solution

Download ft_list_size.c

#include "ft_list.h"

int ft_list_size(t_list *begin_list) {

	int size = 0;

	while (begin_list) {
		size++;
		begin_list = begin_list->next;
	}
	return size;
}

How It Works

Goal: Count the number of elements in a linked list.

Approach: Traverse the list from head to tail, incrementing a counter at each node.

Step by step:

1. Initialize a size counter to 0.
2. Loop while begin_list is not NULL, incrementing size each iteration.
3. Advance the pointer to the next node with begin_list = begin_list->next.
4. Return the final count once the end of the list (NULL) is reached.

Key concept: Linked list traversal using a while loop that stops at NULL.