Printing out a linked list using toString

Question

Ok guys, so I am trying to learn how to print out a linked list. I have all the methods that I would need to use for the list, but I can't figure out how to display the values of the nodes. Right now there is nothing in my main method because I kept getting errors trying to call non static methods in the main. I have a toString method that displays the contents of the list. How would I go about calling this toString to display the value of each node? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Here is the node class:

public class LinkedListNode
{

    private int data;
    private LinkedListNode next;


    public LinkedListNode(int data)
    {
        this.data = data;
        this.next = null;
    }

    public int getData()
    {
        return data;
    }

    public void setData(int d)
    {
        data = d;
    }

    public LinkedListNode getNext()
    {
        return next;
    }

    public void setNext(LinkedListNode n)
    {
        next = n;
    }
}

Here is the LinkedList class that contains the main and methods to manipulate the list:

public class LinkedList {

    public LinkedListNode head;

    public static void main(String[] args) {

    LinkedList l = new LinkedList();
    l.insertFront(0);
    System.out.println(l.toString());

    }

    public LinkedList() {
        this.head = null;
    }

    public int removeFront(){
        if(head == null){
            System.out.println("Error - Attempting to call removeFront() on empty list");
            return 0;
        }else{
            int temp = head.getData();
            head = head.getNext();  
            return temp;
        }

    }

    public void insertFront(int data){
        if(head == null){
            head = new LinkedListNode(data);
        }else{
            LinkedListNode newNode = new LinkedListNode(data);
            newNode.setNext(head);
            head = newNode;
        }       
    }

    public void insertBack(int data){
        if(head == null){
            head = new LinkedListNode(data);
        }else{
            LinkedListNode newNode = new LinkedListNode(data);
            LinkedListNode current = head;
            while(current.getNext() != null){
                current = current.getNext();
            }
            current.setNext(newNode);
        }       
    }

    public int removeBack(){
        if(head == null){
            System.out.println("Error - Attempting to call removeBack() on empty list");
            return 0;
        }else if (head.getNext() == null){
            int temp = head.getData();
            head = null;
            return temp;
        }else{

            LinkedListNode current = head;
            while(current.getNext().getNext() != null){
                current = current.getNext();
            }
            int temp = current.getNext().getData();
            current.setNext(null);
            return temp;
        }       
    }

    public String toString(){
        String retStr = "Contents:\n";

        LinkedListNode current = head;
        while(current != null){
            retStr += current.getData() + "\n";
            current = current.getNext();

        }

        return retStr;
    }

    public LinkedListNode getHead() {
        return head;
    }

    public void setHead(LinkedListNode head) {
        this.head = head;
    }
}

Answer 1

public static void main(String[] args) {

    LinkedList list = new LinkedList();
    list.insertFront(1);
    list.insertFront(2);
    list.insertFront(3);
    System.out.println(list.toString());
}

String toString() {
            String result = "";
            LinkedListNode current = head;
            while(current.getNext() != null){
                result += current.getData();
                if(current.getNext() != null){
                     result += ", ";
                }
                current = current.getNext();
            }
            return "List: " + result;
}

Answer 2

As has been pointed out in some other answers and comments, what you are missing here is a call to the JVM System class to print out the string generated by your toString() method.

LinkedList myLinkedList = new LinkedList();
System.out.println(myLinkedList.toString());

This will get the job done, but I wouldn't recommend doing it that way. If we take a look at the javadocs for the Object class, we find this description for toString():

Returns a string representation of the object. In general, the toString method returns a string that "textually represents" this object. The result should be a concise but informative representation that is easy for a person to read. It is recommended that all subclasses override this method.

The emphasis added there is my own. You are creating a string that contains the entire state of the linked list, which somebody using your class is probably not expecting. I would recommend the following changes:

1. Add a toString() method to your LinkedListNode class.
2. Update the toString() method in your LinkedList class to be more concise.
3. Add a new method called printList() to your LinkedList class that does what you are currently expecting toString() to do.

In LinkedListNode:

public String toString(){
   return "LinkedListNode with data: " + getData();
}

In LinkedList:

public int size(){
    int currentSize = 0;
    LinkedListNode current = head;
    while(current != null){
        currentSize = currentSize + 1;
        current = current.getNext();
    }

    return currentSize;
}

public String toString(){
    return "LinkedList with " + size() + "elements.";
}

public void printList(){
    System.out.println("Contents of " + toString());

    LinkedListNode current = head;
    while(current != null){
        System.out.println(current.toString());
        current = current.getNext();
    }

}

Answer 3

When the JVM tries to run your application, it calls your main method statically; something like this:

LinkedList.main();

That means there is no instance of your LinkedList class. In order to call your toString() method, you can create a new instance of your LinkedList class.

So the body of your main method should be like this:

public static void main(String[] args){
    // creating an instance of LinkedList class
    LinkedList ll = new LinkedList();

    // adding some data to the list
    ll.insertFront(1);
    ll.insertFront(2);
    ll.insertFront(3);
    ll.insertBack(4);

    System.out.println(ll.toString());
}