331. Verify Preorder Serialization of a Binary Tree

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 #.

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

用两个变量控制来模拟这个二叉树的判定过程，
因为一个节点有两个孩子，一个结点的二叉树有两个空结点，
二个结点的二叉树有三个空结点，依次类推。
m代表当前尚未遇到的满足要求的空的孩子结点，初始化为1，
然后每遇到一个非空的结点，m++，
遇到空节点时，m–。

class Solution {
public:
    bool isValidSerialization(string preorder) {
        int n = preorder.size();
        int i = 0;
        int m = 1;
        while(i<n&&m>0){
            while(i<n&&m>0){
                i++;
            }
            if(preorder[i-1]=='#'){
                m--;
            }else{
                m++;
            }
            if(i<n){
                i++;
            }
        }
        if(i==n&&m==0){
            return true;
        }else{
            return false;
        }
    }
};