C program to delete middle node of Singly Linked List

Write a C program to create a singly linked list of n nodes and delete node from the middle of the linked list. How to delete node from the middle of the singly linked list in C. Algorithm to delete middle node from singly linked list. Steps to delete middle node from singly linked list.

Required knowledge

Basic C programming, Functions, Singly linked list, Dynamic memory allocation

Algorithm to delete middle node of Singly Linked List

Algorithm to delete middle node of Singly Linked List
%%Input : head node of the linked list
        n node to be deleted
Begin:
    If (head == NULL) then
        write ('List is already empty')
    End if
    Else then
        toDelete ← head
        prevNode ← head
        For i←2 to n do
            prevNode ← toDelete
            toDelete ← toDelete.next
            If (toDelete == NULL) then
                break
            End if
        End for
        If (toDelete != NULL) then
            If (toDelete == head) then
                head ← head.next
            End if
            prevNode.next ← toDelete.next
            toDelete.next ← NULL
            unalloc (toDelete)
        End if
    End else
End

Steps to delete middle node of Singly Linked List

1. Traverse to the n^th node of the singly linked list and also keep reference of n-1^th node in some temp variable say prevnode.
2. Reconnect the n-1^th node with the n+1^th node i.e. prevNode->next = toDelete->next (Where prevNode is n-1^th node and toDelete node is the n^th node and toDelete->next is the n+1^th node).
3. Free the memory occupied by the n^th node i.e. toDelete node.

Program to delete middle node of Singly Linked List

/**
 * C program to delete middle node of Singly Linked List
 */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>


/* Structure of a node */
struct node {
    int data;          // Data 
    struct node *next; // Address 
} *head;


/* Functions used in program */
void createList(int n);
void deleteMiddleNode(int position);
void displayList();


int main()
{
    int n, position;

    /*
     * Create a singly linked list of n nodes
     */
    printf("Enter the total number of nodes: ");
    scanf("%d", &n);
    createList(n);

    printf("\nData in the list \n");
    displayList();

    printf("\nEnter the node position you want to delete: ");
    scanf("%d", &position);

    /* Delete middle node from list */
    deleteMiddleNode(position);

    printf("\nData in the list \n");
    displayList();

    return 0;
}


/*
 * Create a list of n nodes
 */
void createList(int n)
{
    struct node *newNode, *temp;
    int data, i;

    head = (struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node));

    /*
     * If unable to allocate memory for head node
     */
    if(head == NULL)
    {
        printf("Unable to allocate memory.");
    }
    else
    {
        /*
         * Read data of node from the user
         */
        printf("Enter the data of node 1: ");
        scanf("%d", &data);

        head->data = data; // Link the data field with data
        head->next = NULL; // Link the address field to NULL

        temp = head;

        /*
         * Create n nodes and adds to linked list
         */
        for(i=2; i<=n; i++)
        {
            newNode = (struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node));

            /* If memory is not allocated for newNode */
            if(newNode == NULL)
            {
                printf("Unable to allocate memory.");
                break;
            }
            else
            {
                printf("Enter the data of node %d: ", i);
                scanf("%d", &data);

                newNode->data = data; // Link the data field of newNode with data
                newNode->next = NULL; // Link the address field of newNode with NULL

                temp->next = newNode; // Link previous node i.e. temp to the newNode
                temp = temp->next;
            }
        }

        printf("SINGLY LINKED LIST CREATED SUCCESSFULLY\n");
    }
}



/*
 * Delete middle node of the linked list
 */
void deleteMiddleNode(int position)
{
    int i;
    struct node *toDelete, *prevNode;

    if(head == NULL)
    {
        printf("List is already empty.");
    }
    else
    {
        toDelete = head;
        prevNode = head;

        for(i=2; i<=position; i++)
        {
            prevNode = toDelete;
            toDelete = toDelete->next;

            if(toDelete == NULL)
                break;
        }

        if(toDelete != NULL)
        {
            if(toDelete == head)
                head = head->next;

            prevNode->next = toDelete->next;
            toDelete->next = NULL;

            /* Delete nth node */
            free(toDelete);

            printf("SUCCESSFULLY DELETED NODE FROM MIDDLE OF LIST\n");
        }
        else
        {
            printf("Invalid position unable to delete.");
        }
    }
}


/*
 * Display entire list
 */
void displayList()
{
    struct node *temp;

    /*
     * If the list is empty i.e. head = NULL
     */
    if(head == NULL)
    {
        printf("List is empty.");
    }
    else
    {
        temp = head;
        while(temp != NULL)
        {
            printf("Data = %d\n", temp->data); // Print the data of current node
            temp = temp->next;                 // Move to next node
        }
    }
}

Enter the total number of nodes: 4
Enter the data of node 1: 10
Enter the data of node 2: 20
Enter the data of node 3: 30
Enter the data of node 4: 40
SINGLY LINKED LIST CREATED SUCCESSFULLY

Data in the list
Data = 10
Data = 20
Data = 30
Data = 40

Enter the node position you want to delete: 3
SUCCESSFULLY DELETED NODE FROM MIDDLE OF LIST

Data in the list
Data = 10
Data = 20
Data = 40