Edit Distance (O(n^2) and O(n) space)

Given two words word1 and word2, find the minimum number of steps required to convert word1 to word2. (each operation is counted as 1 step.)

You have the following 3 operations permitted on a word:

a) Insert a character
b) Delete a character
c) Replace a character

动态规划问题，d[i, j] 表示word1[i]到word2[j]的距离。 

d[i, j]=min{d[i-1, j  ] + 1   , d[i  , j-1] + 1  , d[i-1, j-1]+cost}  (如果word1[i-1] == word2[j-1]，则cost=0)

d[i-1, j] + 1,     //delete，需要从word1里面删除一个才能相等，说明前i-1个与word2前j个相等

d[i, j-1] + 1,     // insert，需要从word1里面增加一个才能相等，说明前i个与word2前j-1个相等

d[i-1, j-1] + cost   // replace，需要替换才能相等，说明前i-1个与word2前j-1个相等

O(n^2) space:

int minDistance(string word1, string word2)
{
    int len1 = word1.length();
    int len2 = word2.length();
    int dp[600][600];
    memset(dp, 0, sizeof(dp));

    for(int i = 0; i <= len1; i++)
        dp[i][0] = i;
    for(int j = 0; j <= len2; j++)
        dp[0][j] = j;

    for(int i = 1; i <=len1; i ++)
    {
        for(int j = 1; j <= len2; j ++)
        {
            if(word1[i-1] == word2[j-1])
                dp[i][j] = dp[i-1][j-1];
            else
                dp[i][j] = min(min(dp[i-1][j]+1, dp[i-1][j-1]+1), dp[i][j-1]+1);
        }
    }
    return dp[len1][len2];
}

O(n) space method 1 （利用两个数组保存当前列和前一列，因为矩阵其他部分没用到，所以可以节约空间）: 

int minDistance(string word1, string word2)
{
    int len1 = word1.length();
    int len2 = word2.length();

    if(len1==0)
        return len2;
    if(len2==0)
        return len1;

    int current[600];//当前列
    int last[600];//之前列

    memset(current, 0, sizeof(current));
    memset(last, 0, sizeof(last));

    for (int i = 0; i <= len1; i++)
    {
        last[i] = i;
    }

    for (int j = 1; j <= len2; j ++)
    {
        for (int i = 1; i <= len1; i ++)
        {
            current[0] = j;
            if (word1[i - 1] == word2[j - 1])
                current[i] = last[i - 1];
            else
                current[i] = min(min(current[i - 1] + 1, last[i - 1] + 1), last[i] + 1);
        }
        memcpy(last, current, sizeof(current));
    }
    return current[len1];
}