Merge Sort a Linked List

Wonder why it should be big challenge as it is stated here, here is a straightforward implementation in Java with out any “clever tricks”.

//The main function
public static Node merge_sort(Node head) 
{
    if(head == null || head.next == null) 
        return head;
        
    Node middle = getMiddle(head);      //get the middle of the list
    Node left_head = head;
    Node right_head = middle.next; 
    middle.next = null;             //split the list into two halfs

    return merge(merge_sort(left_head), merge_sort(right_head));  //recurse on that
}

//Merge subroutine to merge two sorted lists
public static Node merge(Node a, Node b)
{
    Node dummyHead = new Node();
    for(Node current  = dummyHead; a != null && b != null; current = current.next;)
    {
        if(a.data <= b.data) 
        {
            current.next = a; 
            a = a.next; 
        }
        else
        { 
            current.next = b;
            b = b.next; 
        }
        
    }
    dummyHead.next = (a == null) ? b : a;
    return dummyHead.next;
}

//Finding the middle element of the list for splitting
public static Node getMiddle(Node head)
{
    if(head == null) 
        return head;
    
    Node slow = head, fast = head;
    
    while(fast.next != null && fast.next.next != null)
    {
        slow = slow.next;
        fast = fast.next.next;
    }
    return slow;
}