Leetcode 383. Ransom Note

Problem

Given two strings ransomNote and magazine, return true if ransomNote can be constructed by using the letters from magazine and false otherwise.

Each letter in magazine can only be used once in ransomNote.

Algorithm

Use a list save the letters in “magazine” and remove the letters in ransomNote.

Code

class Solution:
    def canConstruct(self, ransomNote: str, magazine: str) -> bool:
        magazineCnts = [0] * 26
        for c in magazine:
            magazineCnts[ord(c) - ord('a')] += 1
        
        for c in ransomNote:
            if magazineCnts[ord(c) - ord('a')] > 0:
                magazineCnts[ord(c) - ord('a')] -= 1
            else:
                return False
        
        return True