4.1.2 Longest Valid Parentheses

原题链接： https://oj.leetcode.com/problems/longest-valid-parentheses/

Given a string containing just the characters '(' and ')', find the length of the longest valid (well-formed) parentheses substring.

For "(()", the longest valid parentheses substring is "()", which has length = 2.

Another example is ")()())", where the longest valid parentheses substring is "()()", which has length = 4.

我的思路是：和前一题Valid Parentheses一样，代码如下：

public class Solution {
    public int longestValidParentheses(String s) {
        Stack<Character> stack = new Stack<Character>();
        int length = 0;
        int maxLength = 0; 
        char c;
        for(int i = 0; i < s.length(); i++){
            c = s.charAt(i);
            if(c == '(' ){
                stack.push(c);
            }
            if(c == ')'){
                if(stack.isEmpty()){
                   continue;
                }
                char d = stack.peek();
                if(d == '(' && c!= ')') {
                    length = 0;
                    continue;
                }
                else {
                    stack.pop();
                    length = length + 2;
                    if(length > maxLength){
                        maxLength = length;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        return maxLength;
    }
}

但是这个是不对的。

Input:	"()(()"
Output:	4
Expected:	2

Input:	"()(())"
Output:	4
Expected:	6

为什么？

正确的代码：

方法I： 栈。Time O(n), Space O(n)

思路： “所有无法匹配的')'”的index其实都是各个group的分界点” 

（引用：http://www.cnblogs.com/lichen782/p/leetcode_Longest_Valid_Parentheses.html）

public class Solution {
    public int longestValidParentheses(String s) {
        //code after reading dai's c++ code
        //each ) is used to separate groups of valid parentheses
        Stack<Integer> lefts = new Stack<Integer>();//store the indices of  '('
        int length = 0;
        int maxLen = 0; 
        int last = -1;
        char c;
        for(int i = 0; i < s.length(); i++){
            c = s.charAt(i);
            if(c == '('){
                lefts.push(i);
            }
            else{//c == ')'
                if(lefts.isEmpty()){//this ) should be used as the separation point
                    last = i;
                }
                else{
                    lefts.pop();//match the current ) with previous ()
                    if(lefts.isEmpty()){//this group has completed
                        maxLen = Math.max(maxLen, i - last);
                    }
                    else{
                        maxLen = Math.max(maxLen, i - lefts.peek());
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        return maxLen;
    }
}

方法II: DP 不懂。todo

方法III: 两边扫描。不懂为什么work. todo.