X421: Detect Loop In Linked Chain

Consider the following class definitions:

​x
 
public class LinkedChain<T> {
    private Node<T> firstNode;
    private int numberOfEntries;
​
    public LinkedChain() {
        firstNode = null;
        numberOfEntries = 0;
    }// end default constructor
​
​
    public Node<T> getfirstNode() {
        return firstNode;
    }
​
​
    public int getNumberOfEntries() {
        return numberOfEntries;
    }
​
​
​
    public void push(T newEntry) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        firstNode = new Node<T>(newEntry, firstNode);
        numberOfEntries++;
    }
}

Where Node is defined as:

 
public class Node<T> {
     private T data; // Entry in bag
     private Node<T> next; // Link to next node
​
     public Node(T dataPortion) {
         this(dataPortion, null);
     } // end constructor
​
​
     public Node(T dataPortion, Node<T> nextNode) {
         data = dataPortion;
         next = nextNode;
     } // end constructor
​
​
     public T getData() {
         if (data != null) {
             return data;
         }
         return null;
     }
​
​
     public Node getNext() {
         return next;
     }
​
​
     public void setNext(Node<T> newNext) {
         next = newNext;
     }
}

Below, write a Linked Chain method that will determine if a linked chain is actually a loop.

A looped linked chain would look like this:

 
A --> B --> C --> D -
^                   |
|___________________

While a normal (not looped) chain would look like this:

 
A --> B --> C --> D

in this example, the node containing D points to the first node (the node containing A).

Have this method return true, if a linked chain is looped, otherwise false.

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