Leetcode 331. Verify Preorder Serialization of a Binary Tree (Medium) (cpp)

Leetcode 331. Verify Preorder Serialization of a Binary Tree (Medium) (cpp)

Tag: Stack

Difficulty: Medium

/*

331. Verify Preorder Serialization of a Binary Tree (Medium)

One way to serialize a binary tree is to use pre-order traversal. When we encounter a non-null node, we record the node's value. If it is a null node, we record using a sentinel value such as #.

     _9_
    /   \
   3     2
  / \   / \
 4   1  #  6
/ \ / \   / \
# # # #   # #
For example, the above binary tree can be serialized to the string "9,3,4,#,#,1,#,#,2,#,6,#,#", where # represents a null node.

Given a string of comma separated values, verify whether it is a correct preorder traversal serialization of a binary tree. Find an algorithm without reconstructing the tree.

Each comma separated value in the string must be either an integer or a character '#' representing null pointer.

You may assume that the input format is always valid, for example it could never contain two consecutive commas such as "1,,3".

Example 1:
"9,3,4,#,#,1,#,#,2,#,6,#,#"
Return true

Example 2:
"1,#"
Return false

Example 3:
"9,#,#,1"
Return false

*/
class Solution {
public:
	bool isValidSerialization(string preorder) {
		string s = "";
		for (int i = 0; i < preorder.length(); i++) {
			if (preorder[i] != '#') {
				s += 'n';
				while (preorder[i] != ',' && i < preorder.length()) i++;
			} else {
				s += '#';
				while (s.length() >= 2 && s.back() == '#' && s[s.length() - 2] == '#') {
					if (s.length() == 2) return false;
					s.pop_back();
					s.pop_back();
					s.pop_back();
					s +='#';
				}
				i++;
			}
		}
		return s =="#";
	}
};