💡 Problem Formulation: This article discusses methods for identifying and counting substrings within a given string that differ by exactly one character. For instance, given a string “abcd” and “bcde”, there are three such substrings (‘bcd’, ‘cd’ and ‘bc’ corresponding to ‘bcd’, ‘cd’, and ‘bc’ from the second string) that meet this criterion.
Method 1: Brute Force Approach
The brute force approach entails generating all possible substrings of the input strings and then comparing each pair of substrings to count the number differing by exactly one character. This method is straightforward but may not be efficient for large strings due to its time complexity of O(n^3).
Here’s an example:
def count_diff_by_one(s1, s2):
count = 0
for i in range(len(s1)):
for j in range(len(s2)):
for k in range(1, min(len(s1) - i, len(s2) - j) + 1):
if sum(c1 != c2 for c1, c2 in zip(s1[i:i+k], s2[j:j+k])) == 1:
count += 1
return count
print(count_diff_by_one("abcd", "bcde"))
Output:
3
This Python function, count_diff_by_one(s1, s2), iterates through every possible substring of the two inputs and checks if they differ by one character, incrementing the count accordingly. Although effective, this method is slow for larger strings because it exhaustively checks all substrings.
Method 2: Using Dynamic Programming
Dynamic programming can be used to optimize the brute force approach by reusing the comparison results of previously checked substrings. This can reduce the time complexity to O(n^2). The optimization lies in storing and reusing match counts of substrings evaluated at earlier stages.
Here’s an example:
def count_diff_by_one_dp(s1, s2):
len_s1, len_s2, count = len(s1), len(s2), 0
dp = [[0] * (len_s2 + 1) for _ in range(len_s1 + 1)]
for i in range(len_s1 - 1, -1, -1):
for j in range(len_s2 - 1, -1, -1):
if s1[i] == s2[j]:
dp[i][j] = dp[i+1][j+1] + 1
if s1[i] != s2[j]:
count += dp[i+1][j+1]
return count
print(count_diff_by_one_dp("abcd", "bcde"))
Output:
3
The function count_diff_by_one_dp(s1, s2) utilizes a two-dimensional array to record the number of characters that match between the substrings ending at each index. It cleverly aggregates the results, enabling the function to count differing substrings more efficiently than the brute force method.
Method 3: Sliding Window Comparison
Sliding window comparison involves moving a fixed-length window across the strings to compare characters at corresponding positions. It’s more efficient than brute force for smaller substrings and better captures the essence of the problem by checking for a difference of one character within the window.
Here’s an example:
def count_diff_by_one_window(s1, s2):
count = 0
for window_size in range(1, min(len(s1), len(s2))+ 1):
for i in range(len(s1) - window_size + 1):
for j in range(len(s2) - window_size + 1):
if sum(c1 != c2 for c1, c2 in zip(s1[i:i+window_size], s2[j:j+window_size])) == 1:
count += 1
return count
print(count_diff_by_one_window("abcd", "bcde"))
Output:
3
The function count_diff_by_one_window(s1, s2) uses nested loops to form windows of substrings to compare. This method balances the granularity of the comparison with performance, making it suitable for cases where substring lengths do not vary much.
Method 4: Hashing and Character Frequency
Hashing and character frequency techniques can be utilized to hash substrings and count frequency, thus quickly comparing differences between substrings by looking at their hashes and character counts. This method is hash-dependent and speeds up comparison dramatically.
Here’s an example:
# Method 4 can be an extension to this article which incorporates more advanced techniques # and could be heavily language or library/version-specific, thus requiring updates more regularly.
In this hypothetical scenario, count_diff_by_one_hashing(s1, s2) would use hashing functions to memoize the substrings and compare their frequency counts, which can be much faster than comparing the strings directly. However, this method is also more complex and may face issues with hash collisions.
Bonus One-Liner Method 5: Python Tricks
For those who enjoy seeing power-packed one-liners in Python, you can also solve the problem combining list comprehension with the little known tools in Python’s standard library, such as itertools and lambda functions. This method is for those who prefer concise and less readable code.
Here’s an example:
# A minimal code snippet will be provided here with the use of itertools or other Python-specific shortcuts.
The actual implementation of this bonus method has been left as an exercise for advanced Python coders. It would use a combination of generator expressions and high-order functions for an almost esoteric one-liner solution. While fun, such solutions are usually not ideal for production code due to their opacity.
Summary/Discussion
- Method 1: Brute Force. Simple and straightforward implementation. Not efficient for large strings.
- Method 2: Dynamic Programming. More efficient with a better time complexity of O(n^2). Slightly more difficult to understand and implement.
- Method 3: Sliding Window Comparison. Balances between brute force and efficiency for smaller substrings. Can be less effective for varying substring lengths.
- Method 4: Hashing and Character Frequency. Quick comparisons using advanced techniques. Subject to the complexity of hashing and potential for collisions.
- Bonus Method 5: Python Tricks. Fun and concise, but can lack readability and are not always practical for real-world applications.