LeetCode(6), Backspace String Compared

Description

Given two strings S and T, return if they are equal when both are typed into empty text editors. # means a backspace character.

Note that after backspacing an empty text, the text will continue empty.

Example 1:

Input: S = "ab#c", T = "ad#c"
Output: true
Explanation: Both S and T become "ac".

Example 2:

Input: S = "ab##", T = "c#d#"
Output: true
Explanation: Both S and T become "".

Example 3:

Input: S = "a##c", T = "#a#c"
Output: true
Explanation: Both S and T become "c".

Example 4:

Input: S = "a#c", T = "b"
Output: false
Explanation: S becomes "c" while T becomes "b".

Note:

• 1 <= S.length <= 200
• 1 <= T.length <= 200
• S and T only contain lowercase letters and '#' characters.
  Follow up:
• Can you solve it in O(N) time and O(1) space?

Solution

Using Stck

Use a stack to track the current content of the string. Pop a stack element if we meet a #, else, push char into stack. However, this method consumes O(n) space and O(n) time complexity.

class Solution {
    public boolean backspaceCompare(String S, String T) {
        Stack<Character> stackS = new Stack<>();
        Stack<Character> stackT = new Stack<>();
        
        for (int i = 0; i < S.length(); i++) {
            char c = S.charAt(i);
            if (c == '#' && !stackS.empty()) stackS.pop();
            else if (c != '#') stackS.push(new Character(c));
        }
        
        for (int i = 0; i < T.length(); i++) {
            char c = T.charAt(i);
            if (c == '#' && !stackT.empty()) stackT.pop();
            else if (c != '#') stackT.push(new Character(c));
        }
        
        return stackS.equals(stackT);
    }
}

Two Pointers

从右到左遍历，记录#的个数。如果碰到非#字符，检查此时#的个数，如果此时#的个数大于0，继续下一个字符，如果#的个数等于0，停下扫描。碰到#就把#的计数加一，继续下一个字符。
同时，在另一个字符串做同样的操作，当停下扫描时，比较两个字符是否相等。如果相等，则继续扫描，如果不相等，返回false.
O(N) 时间复杂度和O(1)空间复杂度。

class Solution {
    public boolean backspaceCompare(String S, String T) {
        int i = S.length()-1, j = T.length()-1, skip;
        while (true) {
            skip = 0;
            while (i >= 0) {
                if (S.charAt(i) == '#') { skip++; i--; }
                else if (skip > 0) { skip--; i--; }
                else break;
            }
            
            skip = 0;
            while (j >= 0) {
                if (T.charAt(j) == '#') { skip++; j--; }
                else if (skip > 0) { skip--; j--; }
                else break;
            }
            
            if (i == -1 && j == -1) return true;
            else if (i == -1 && j != -1) return false;
            else if (i != -1 && j == -1) return false;
            else if (S.charAt(i) != T.charAt(j)) return false;
            else if (S.charAt(i) == T.charAt(j)) {
                i--;
                j--;
            }
        }
    }
}