{ "cells": [ { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "This notebook was prepared by [Rishi Rajasekaran](https://github.com/rishihot55). Source and license info is on [GitHub](https://github.com/donnemartin/interactive-coding-challenges)." ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "# Solution Notebook" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Problem: Find all valid combinations of n-pairs of parentheses.\n", "\n", "* [Constraints](#Constraints)\n", "* [Test Cases](#Test-Cases)\n", "* [Algorithm](#Algorithm)\n", "* [Code](#Code)\n", "* [Unit Test](#Unit-Test)" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Constraints\n", "\n", "* Is the input an integer representing the number of pairs?\n", " * Yes\n", "* Can we assume the inputs are valid?\n", " * No\n", "* Is the output a list of valid combinations?\n", " * Yes\n", "* Should the output have duplicates?\n", " * No\n", "* Can we assume this fits memory?\n", " * Yes" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Test Cases\n", "\n", "
\n",
    "* None -> Exception\n",
    "* Negative -> Exception\n",
    "* 0 -> []\n",
    "* 1 -> ['()']\n",
    "* 2 -> ['(())', '()()']\n",
    "* 3 -> ['((()))', '(()())', '(())()', '()(())', '()()()']\n",
    "
" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "# Algorithm\n", "\n", "Let `l` and `r` denote the number of left and right parentheses remaining at any given point. \n", "The algorithm makes use of the following conditions applied recursively:\n", "* Left braces can be inserted any time, as long as we do not exhaust them i.e. `l > 0`.\n", "* Right braces can be inserted, as long as the number of right braces remaining is greater than the left braces remaining i.e. `r > l`. Violation of the aforementioned condition produces an unbalanced string of parentheses.\n", "* If both left and right braces have been exhausted i.e. `l = 0 and r = 0`, then the resultant string produced is balanced.\n", "\n", "The algorithm can be rephrased as:\n", "* Base case: `l = 0 and r = 0`\n", " - Add the string generated to the result set\n", "* Case 1: `l > 0`\n", " - Add a left parenthesis to the parentheses string.\n", " - Recurse (l - 1, r, new_string, result_set)\n", "* Case 2: `r > l`\n", " - Add a right parenthesis to the parentheses string.\n", " - Recurse (l, r - 1, new_string, result_set)\n", "\n", "Complexity:\n", "* Time: `O(4^n/n^(3/2))`, see [Catalan numbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_number#Applications_in_combinatorics) - 1, 1, 2, 5, 14, 42, 132...\n", "* Space complexity: `O(n)`, due to the implicit call stack storing a maximum of 2n function calls)" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Code" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", "execution_count": 1, "metadata": { "collapsed": true }, "outputs": [], "source": [ "class Parentheses(object):\n", "\n", " def find_pair(self, num_pairs):\n", " if num_pairs is None:\n", " raise TypeError('num_pairs cannot be None')\n", " if num_pairs < 0:\n", " raise ValueError('num_pairs cannot be < 0')\n", " if not num_pairs:\n", " return []\n", " results = []\n", " curr_results = []\n", " self._find_pair(num_pairs, num_pairs, curr_results, results)\n", " return results\n", "\n", " def _find_pair(self, nleft, nright, curr_results, results):\n", " if nleft == 0 and nright == 0:\n", " results.append(''.join(curr_results))\n", " else:\n", " if nleft >= 0:\n", " self._find_pair(nleft-1, nright, curr_results+['('], results)\n", " if nright > nleft:\n", " self._find_pair(nleft, nright-1, curr_results+[')'], results)" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Unit Test" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", "execution_count": 2, "metadata": { "collapsed": false }, "outputs": [ { "name": "stdout", "output_type": "stream", "text": [ "Overwriting test_n_pairs_parentheses.py\n" ] } ], "source": [ "%%writefile test_n_pairs_parentheses.py\n", "from nose.tools import assert_equal, assert_raises\n", "\n", "\n", "class TestPairParentheses(object):\n", "\n", " def test_pair_parentheses(self):\n", " parentheses = Parentheses()\n", " assert_raises(TypeError, parentheses.find_pair, None)\n", " assert_raises(ValueError, parentheses.find_pair, -1)\n", " assert_equal(parentheses.find_pair(0), [])\n", " assert_equal(parentheses.find_pair(1), ['()'])\n", " assert_equal(parentheses.find_pair(2), ['(())',\n", " '()()'])\n", " assert_equal(parentheses.find_pair(3), ['((()))',\n", " '(()())',\n", " '(())()',\n", " '()(())',\n", " '()()()'])\n", " print('Success: test_pair_parentheses')\n", "\n", "\n", "def main():\n", " test = TestPairParentheses()\n", " test.test_pair_parentheses()\n", "\n", "\n", "if __name__ == '__main__':\n", " main()" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", "execution_count": 3, "metadata": { "collapsed": false }, "outputs": [ { "name": "stdout", "output_type": "stream", "text": [ "Success: test_pair_parentheses\n" ] } ], "source": [ "%run -i test_n_pairs_parentheses.py" ] } ], "metadata": { "kernelspec": { "display_name": "Python 3", "language": "python", "name": "python3" }, "language_info": { "codemirror_mode": { "name": "ipython", "version": 3 }, "file_extension": ".py", "mimetype": "text/x-python", "name": "python", "nbconvert_exporter": "python", "pygments_lexer": "ipython3", "version": "3.5.0" } }, "nbformat": 4, "nbformat_minor": 0 }