[LeetCode] Regular Expression Matching

题目

Implement regular expression matching with support for '.' and '*'.

'.' Matches any single character.
'*' Matches zero or more of the preceding element.

The matching should cover the entire input string (not partial).

The function prototype should be:
bool isMatch(const char *s, const char *p)

Some examples:
isMatch("aa","a") → false
isMatch("aa","aa") → true
isMatch("aaa","aa") → false
isMatch("aa", "a*") → true
isMatch("aa", ".*") → true
isMatch("ab", ".*") → true
isMatch("aab", "c*a*b") → true

思路

这道题的难点在于需要考虑所有可能的情况，代码的每个条件判断前都给了详细的注释。

代码

public class Solution {
    public boolean isMatch(String s, String p) {
	    int len = p.length();

	    //case 1: len == 0 
	    if (len == 0) 
		    return s.length() == 0;
 
	    //case 2: len == 1
	    else if (len == 1) {
	        //case 2.1: s.length() == 0
		    if (s.length() == 0)
			    return false;
			//case 2.2: s.length() >= 1
		    else {
		        //case 2.2.1: the first characters of s and p are not matched
		        if ((p.charAt(0) != '.') && (p.charAt(0) != s.charAt(0)))
			        return false;
		        //case 2.2.2: match the rest of s and p
		        else
			        return isMatch(s.substring(1), p.substring(1));
		    }
	    }
        //case 3: len >= 2
        else {
	        // case 3.1: the second character of p is not '*'
	        if (p.charAt(1) != '*') {
	            //case 3.1.1: s.length() == 0
		        if (s.length() == 0)
			        return false;
			    //case 3.1.2: s.length() >= 1
			    else {
		            //case 3.1.2.1: the first characters of s and p are not matched
		            if ((p.charAt(0) != s.charAt(0)) && (p.charAt(0) != '.'))
			            return false;
			        //case 3.1.2.2: otherwise, match the rest of s and p
		            else
			            return isMatch(s.substring(1), p.substring(1));
			    }        
	        }
	        // case 3.2: the second char of p is '*'
	        else {
		        //case 3.2.1: '*' represents 0 preceding element
		        if (isMatch(s, p.substring(2)))
    			    return true;
		        //case 3.2.2: '*' represents 1 or more preceding element 
		        int i = 0;
		        while (i < s.length() && (s.charAt(i) == p.charAt(0) || p.charAt(0) == '.')){
			        if (isMatch(s.substring(++i), p.substring(2)))
			            return true;
		        }
		        return false;
	        }
        }
    }
}