Replace every node of a Linked list with the next greater element on right side

Last Updated : 12 Jul, 2025

Given a linked list, the task is to find the Next Greater Element for every node of the linked list.
Note: For nodes with no next greater element, store -1 in the result.

Examples:

Input: linked list = [2, 1, 5]
Output: [5, 5, -1]

Input: linked list = [2, 7, 4, 3, 5]
Output: [7, -1, 5, 5, -1]

Approach:
To solve the problem mentioned above the main idea is to use a Stack Data Structure.

Iterate through the linked list and insert the value and position of elements of the linked list into a stack.
Initialize the result vector with -1 for every node.
Update the previous node's value while the current node's value is greater than the previous nodes and pop the value from the stack after updating.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// C++ Program to find the
// Next Greater Element for
// a Linked List

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

// Linked List Node
struct Node {
    int val;
    struct Node* next;
};

// Function to print
// next greater element
vector<int> nextLargerNodes(
    struct Node* head)
{
    int cur_pos = 0;

    stack<pair<int, int> > arr;

    vector<int> res;

    // Iterate for all
    // element in linked list
    while (head) {

        // Initialize every
        // position with 0
        res.push_back(-1);

        // Check if current value is
        // greater then update previous
        while (
            !arr.empty()
            && arr.top().second
                   < head->val) {

            res[arr.top().first]
                = head->val;
            arr.pop();
        }

        arr.push(make_pair(
            cur_pos,
            head->val));

        cur_pos++;

        // Increment the head pointer
        head = head->next;
    }

    // Return the final result
    return res;
}

// Utility function to
// create a new node
Node* newNode(int val)
{
    struct Node* temp = new Node;
    temp->val = val;
    temp->next = NULL;
    return temp;
}

// Driver Program
int main()
{
    struct Node* head = newNode(2);
    head->next = newNode(7);
    head->next->next = newNode(4);
    head->next->next->next = newNode(3);
    head->next->next->next->next = newNode(5);

    vector<int> ans;

    ans = nextLargerNodes(head);

    for (int i = 0; i < ans.size(); i++) {
        cout << ans[i] << ", ";
    }
}

Java

// Java Program to find the
// Next Greater Element for
// a Linked List
import java.util.*;
class GFG{

// Linked List Node
static class Node 
{
  int val;
  Node next;
};
  
static class pair
{ 
  int first, second; 
  public pair(int first, 
              int second)  
  { 
    this.first = first; 
    this.second = second; 
  }    
} ;
  
// Function to print
// next greater element
static Vector<Integer> 
       nextLargerNodes(Node head)
{
  int cur_pos = 0;
  Stack<pair > arr = new Stack<>();
  Vector<Integer> res = new Vector<>();

  // Iterate for all
  // element in linked list
  while (head != null) 
  {
    // Initialize every
    // position with 0
    res.add(-1);

    // Check if current value is
    // greater then update previous
    while (!arr.isEmpty() && 
           arr.peek().second < 
           head.val) 
    {
      res.set(arr.peek().first,
              head.val);
      arr.pop();
    }
    
    arr.add(new pair(cur_pos, 
                     head.val));
    cur_pos++;

    // Increment the head 
    // pointer
    head = head.next;
  }

  // Return the final result
  return res;
}

// Utility function to
// create a new node
static Node newNode(int val)
{
  Node temp = new Node();
  temp.val = val;
  temp.next = null;
  return temp;
}

// Driver code
public static void main(String[] args)
{
  Node head = newNode(2);
  head.next = newNode(7);
  head.next.next = newNode(4);
  head.next.next.next = newNode(3);
  head.next.next.next.next = newNode(5);

  Vector<Integer> ans = new Vector<>();
  ans = nextLargerNodes(head);

  for (int i = 0; i < ans.size(); i++) 
  {
    System.out.print(ans.elementAt(i) + ", ");
  }
}
}

// This code is contributed by Princi Singh

Python3

# Python3 program to find the
# Next Greater Element for
# a Linked List

# Linked List Node
class newNode:
    
    def __init__(self, val):
        
        self.val = val
        self.next = None

# Function to print
# next greater element
def nextLargerNodes(head):
    
    cur_pos = 0

    arr = []
    res = []

    # Iterate for all
    # element in linked list
    while (head):
        
        # Initialize every
        # position with 0
        res.append(-1)

        # Check if current value is
        # greater then update previous
        while (len(arr) > 0 and 
           arr[len(arr) - 1][1] < head.val):
            res[arr[len(arr) - 1][0]] = head.val
            arr.remove(arr[len(arr) - 1])

        arr.append([cur_pos, head.val])

        cur_pos += 1

        # Increment the head pointer
        head = head.next

    # Return the final result
    return res

# Driver code
if __name__ == '__main__':
    
    head = newNode(2)
    head.next = newNode(7)
    head.next.next = newNode(4)
    head.next.next.next = newNode(3)
    head.next.next.next.next = newNode(5)

    ans = nextLargerNodes(head)

    for i in range(len(ans)):
        print(ans[i], end = ", ")

# This code is contributed by SURENDRA_GANGWAR

// C# Program to find the
// Next Greater Element for
// a Linked List
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class GFG{

// Linked List Node
class Node 
{
  public int val;
  public Node next;
};
  
class pair
{ 
  public int first, second; 
  public pair(int first, 
              int second)  
  { 
    this.first = first; 
    this.second = second; 
  }    
} ;
  
// Function to print
// next greater element
static List<int> 
       nextLargerNodes(Node head)
{
  int cur_pos = 0;
  Stack<pair > arr = new Stack<pair>();
  List<int> res = new List<int>();

  // Iterate for all
  // element in linked list
  while (head != null) 
  {
    // Initialize every
    // position with 0
    res.Add(-1);

    // Check if current value is
    // greater then update previous
    while (arr.Count !=0  && 
           arr.Peek().second < 
           head.val) 
    {
      res[arr.Peek().first] = 
          head.val;
      arr.Pop();
    }
    
    arr.Push(new pair(cur_pos,  
                      head.val));
    cur_pos++;

    // Increment the head 
    // pointer
    head = head.next;
  }

  // Return the readonly result
  return res;
}

// Utility function to
// create a new node
static Node newNode(int val)
{
  Node temp = new Node();
  temp.val = val;
  temp.next = null;
  return temp;
}

// Driver code
public static void Main(String[] args)
{
  Node head = newNode(2);
  head.next = newNode(7);
  head.next.next = newNode(4);
  head.next.next.next = newNode(3);
  head.next.next.next.next = newNode(5);

  List<int> ans = new List<int>();
  ans = nextLargerNodes(head);

  for (int i = 0; i < ans.Count; i++) 
  {
    Console.Write(ans[i] + ", ");
  }
}
}

// This code is contributed by shikhasingrajput

JavaScript

<script>

// JavaScript program to find the
// Next Greater Element for
// a Linked List

// Linked List Node
class newNode{
    
    constructor(val){
        this.val = val
        this.next = null
    }
}

// Function to print
// next greater element
function nextLargerNodes(head){
    
    let cur_pos = 0

    let arr = []
    let res = []

    // Iterate for all
    // element in linked list
    while (head){
        
        // Initialize every
        // position with 0
        res.push(-1)

        // Check if current value is
        // greater then update previous
        while (arr.length> 0 && arr[arr.length- 1][1] < head.val){
            res[arr[arr.length- 1][0]] = head.val
            arr.pop()
        }

        arr.push([cur_pos, head.val])

        cur_pos += 1

        // Increment the head pointer
        head = head.next
    }

    // Return the final result
    return res
}

// Driver code

let head = new newNode(2)
head.next = new newNode(7)
head.next.next = new newNode(4)
head.next.next.next = new newNode(3)
head.next.next.next.next = new newNode(5)

ans = nextLargerNodes(head)

for(let i=0;i<ans.length;i++)
    document.write(ans[i],", ")

// This code is contributed by shinjanpatra

</script>

Output:

7, -1, 5, 5, -1,

Time Complexity: O(N)
Auxiliary Space Complexity: O(N)

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