Stuck inside an infinite loop when adding a node in linked list

Question

I've been struggling to figure out why this code is stuck in an infinite loop. The back story is I have found the solution, I changed the constructor to assign head is equal to null and that fixed it.

I wonder why this code is NOT working.

When I add different nodes, it is working. The code works as expected.

Issues arise when adding the same node.

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Node one = new Node(1);
        Node two = new Node(2);

        LinkedList list = new LinkedList(one);
        // this gives error, if i add the same nodes
        list.add(two);
        list.add(two);

        System.out.println("Printing out:\n" + list.toString() +"\n");
    }
}


public class LinkedList {
    Node head;
    int length = 0;
    public boolean isEmpty() {
        return (head==null);
    }

    public String toString() {
        Node current = head;
        String string = "Head: ";

        while(current.next != null) {
            string += current.toString() + " --> ";
            current = current.next;
        }
        string += current.toString() + " --> " + current.next;
        return string;
    }

    public LinkedList(Node node) {
        // if were to set head to null and no arg, it works fine
        head = node;
        length = 1;
    }

    public void add(Node node) {
        if(isEmpty()) {
            System.out.println("Empty list, adding node...");
            head = new Node(node.data); ++length;
            return;
        }
        else {

        Node current = head;
        while(current.next != null) {
            current = current.next;
        }
        //current.next = new Node(node.data);
        current.next = node;
        ++length;
        return;
        }
    }

The error is, it never terminates, hence why I think it is forever looping.

Answer 1

I think in your add(Node node) code. When you adding same node twice, it will point the next to itself. Therefore it would be infinite loop.