Assuming C++:
node* leastCommonParent(node *p, node *q)
{
node *pParent = parentNode(p);
while(pParent != 0)
{
node *qParent = parentNode(q);
while(qParent != 0)
{
if (0 == same(pParent, qParent))
return pParent;
qParent = parentNode(qParent);
}
pParent = parentNode(pParent);
}
return 0;
}
UPDATE: A version without explicitly declared variables using recursion follows. I'm sure it can be improved and would probably never use it in production code in the current form.
node* qParent(node *p, node *q)
{
if (p == 0 || q == 0)
return 0;
if (same(p, q) == 0)
return p;
return qParent(p, q->parent);
}
node* pParent(node *p, node *q)
{
return qParent(p, q) ? qParent(p, q) : pParent(p->parent, q);
}
node * result = pParent(p, q);