Leetcode - 20 - Valid Parentheses (easy)

Given a string s containing just the characters '(', ')', '{', '}', '[' and ']', determine if the input string is valid.

An input string is valid if:

1. Open brackets must be closed by the same type of brackets.
2. Open brackets must be closed in the correct order.

 

Solutions:

match relationship problems can be solved by setting up a map directly (1) or using stack to save the relation (2)

(1)

Java:

class Solution {

  // Hash table that takes care of the mappings.
  private HashMap<Character, Character> mappings;

  // Initialize hash map with mappings. This simply makes the code easier to read.
  public Solution() {
    this.mappings = new HashMap<Character, Character>();
    this.mappings.put(')', '(');
    this.mappings.put('}', '{');
    this.mappings.put(']', '[');
  }

  public boolean isValid(String s) {

    // Initialize a stack to be used in the algorithm.
    Stack<Character> stack = new Stack<Character>();

    for (int i = 0; i < s.length(); i++) {
      char c = s.charAt(i);

      // If the current character is a closing bracket.
      if (this.mappings.containsKey(c)) {

        // Get the top element of the stack. If the stack is empty, set a dummy value of '#'
        char topElement = stack.empty() ? '#' : stack.pop();

        // If the mapping for this bracket doesn't match the stack's top element, return false.
        if (topElement != this.mappings.get(c)) {
          return false;
        }
      } else {
        // If it was an opening bracket, push to the stack.
        stack.push(c);
      }
    }

    // If the stack still contains elements, then it is an invalid expression.
    return stack.isEmpty();
  }
}

// https://leetcode.com/problems/valid-parentheses/solution/

Python:

class Solution(object):
    def isValid(self, s):
        """
        :type s: str
        :rtype: bool
        """

        # The stack to keep track of opening brackets.
        stack = []

        # Hash map for keeping track of mappings. This keeps the code very clean.
        # Also makes adding more types of parenthesis easier
        mapping = {")": "(", "}": "{", "]": "["}

        # For every bracket in the expression.
        for char in s:

            # If the character is an closing bracket
            if char in mapping:

                # Pop the topmost element from the stack, if it is non empty
                # Otherwise assign a dummy value of '#' to the top_element variable
                top_element = stack.pop() if stack else '#'

                # The mapping for the opening bracket in our hash and the top
                # element of the stack don't match, return False
                if mapping[char] != top_element:
                    return False
            else:
                # We have an opening bracket, simply push it onto the stack.
                stack.append(char)

        # In the end, if the stack is empty, then we have a valid expression.
        # The stack won't be empty for cases like ((()
        return not stack
        # return stack == []

# https://leetcode.com/problems/valid-parentheses/solution/

(2)

C++:

#include <stack>

class Solution {
public:
    bool isValid(string s) {
        stack<char> paren;
        for (char& c : s) {
            switch (c) {
                case '(': 
                case '{': 
                case '[': paren.push(c); break;
                case ')': if (paren.empty() || paren.top()!='(') return false; else paren.pop(); break;
                case '}': if (paren.empty() || paren.top()!='{') return false; else paren.pop(); break;
                case ']': if (paren.empty() || paren.top()!='[') return false; else paren.pop(); break;
                default: ; // pass
            }
        }
        return paren.empty() ;
    }
};

// https://leetcode.com/problems/valid-parentheses/discuss/9252/2ms-C%2B%2B-sloution

Java:

public boolean isValid(String s) {
	Stack<Character> stack = new Stack<Character>();
	for (char c : s.toCharArray()) {
		if (c == '(')
			stack.push(')');
		else if (c == '{')
			stack.push('}');
		else if (c == '[')
			stack.push(']');
		else if (stack.isEmpty() || stack.pop() != c)
			return false;
	}
	return stack.isEmpty();
}

// https://leetcode.com/problems/valid-parentheses/discuss/9178/Short-java-solution