leetcode #71 in cpp

Given an absolute path for a file (Unix-style), simplify it.

For example,
path = "/home/", => "/home"
path = "/a/./b/../../c/", => "/c"

Solution:

Rules could be found in wiki. 

1. when we meet "..", delete its adjacent left folder

2. when we meet ".", do nothing. Just skip it. 

3. when we meet '/', it means we meet a new folder or the end of current folder.

Code:

class Solution {
public:
    string simplifyPath(string path) {
        vector<string> stk;
        int start_ind = -1;
        
        int i = 0;
        while(i<path.size()){
            //collect strings between '/'  and '/'
            while(i<path.size() &&path[i] == '/' ) i++;//skip leading /
            if(i == path.size()) break;
                start_ind = i;
            while(i<path.size() &&path[i] != '/' ) i++;//get the following characters
            i--;
            
            //get substring
            string s = path.substr(start_ind, i - start_ind+1);
            if(s == ".") {//if it is "".", do nothing
                i++;
                continue;
            } 
            else if(s == ".."){//if it is "..", we need to delete its left
                    if(!stk.empty()) stk.pop_back();
                }else{
                    stk.push_back(s);//if it is a path, push it.
                }
            i++;   
        }
        if(stk.empty()) return "/";
        string res = "";
        for(int i = 0; i < stk.size(); i ++){
            res+="/"+stk[i];
        }
        return res;
                        
            
        }
        
};