To detect a cycle in a linked list, you can use Floyd’s Cycle-Finding Algorithm (Tortoise and Hare) which utilizes two pointers to traverse the list.

Detecting a cycle in a linked list is a common interview question that tests your understanding of pointer manipulation. One efficient way to solve this is by using Floyd’s Cycle-Finding Algorithm, also known as the Tortoise and Hare algorithm. The idea is to have two pointers: a slow pointer (tortoise) that moves one step at a time, and a fast pointer (hare) that moves two steps at a time. If there is no cycle, the fast pointer will reach the end of the list. However, if there is a cycle, the fast pointer will eventually meet the slow pointer within the cycle. Once a cycle is detected, additional steps can be taken to find the exact start of the cycle. In TypeScript, this can be implemented using a while loop to traverse the list and check for intersections. Detecting cycles is critical in many applications such as identifying infinite loops in code execution, preventing memory leaks in garbage collection algorithms, and ensuring proper traversal of complex data structures like graphs.