I am writing a program in c++ which implements a doubly-linked list that holds a single character in each node. I am inserting characters via the append function:
doubly_linked_list adam;
adam.append('a');
This function is implemented as follows:
//Append node
node* append(const item c){
//If the list is not empty...
if(length){
//maintain pointers to end nodes
node* old_last_node = last;
node* new_last_node = new node;
//re-assign the double link and exit link
old_last_node->next = new_last_node;
new_last_node->back = old_last_node;
new_last_node->next = NULL;
//re-assign the last pointer
last = new_last_node;
}
//If this is the first node
else{
//assign first and last to the new node
last = first = new node;
//assign nulls to the pointers on new node
first->next = first->back = NULL;
}
//increase length and exit
++length;
return last;
}
However, I think there is an issue, perhaps with the way C++ handles characters. When I go to print my list, somehow I never get the characters to print which I have appended to my list. This is what I'm using to print:
//Friendly output function
friend std::ostream& operator << (std::ostream& out_s, const doubly_linked_list& source_list){
//create iteration node pointer
node* traverse_position = source_list.first;
//iterate through, reading from start
for(int i = 1; i <= source_list.length; ++i){
//print the character
out_s << (traverse_position->data);
traverse_position = traverse_position->next;
}
//return the output stream
return out_s;
}
I just get crap when I print it. It prints characters that I never appended to my list - you know, just characters just from somewhere in the memory. What could possibly be causing this?