2223. Sum of Scores of Built Strings


Problem Description:

In this problem, we are given a string s of length n. Our task is to build the string iteratively one character at a time by prepending each new character to the front of the string. The strings are labeled from 1 to n, where the string with length i is labeled as s_i.

The score of s_i is the length of the longest common prefix between s_i and s (where s = s_n). Given the final string s, our task is to return the sum of the score of every s_i.

Example:

Consider the following example with s = "codeforces":

  1. We start building the string from the first character, s_1 = "c".
  2. Then, we prepend the second character, s_2 = "oc".
  3. Continuing in this manner, s_3 = "doc", s_4 = "edoc", and so on.

The sum of scores for each s_i in this example can be computed as follows:

  1. The score for s_c ("c") is 0 (since no common prefix in "c" and "codeforces").
  2. s_oc ("oc") and "codeforces" have a common prefix of length 1 (since the first characters match), so the score is 1.
  3. s_doc ("doc") and "codeforces" have no common prefix, so the score is 0.
  4. s_edoc ("edoc") and "codeforces" have no common prefix, so the score is 0.
  5. ...

The sum of all scores is 0 + 1 + 0 + 0 + ... = 1.

Solution Approach:

The solution is based on the Z-Algorithm for finding the longest common prefix in a string. The Z-Algorithm computes the length of the longest common prefix between the current substring (starting from every position) and the original string. The Z array z is initialized to the length of the given string s.

We traverse the string s from the 1st index to the end (ignoring the 0th index), calculating the z-values for each index. After calculating the z-array, we find the sum of all the elements in the array z and add the length of the string (n) to the result.

Python Solution:


python
class Solution:
    def sumScores(self, s: str) -> int:
        n = len(s)
        z = [0] * n
        l, r = 0, 0
        
        for i in range(1, n):
            if i <= r:
                z[i] = min(r - i + 1, z[i - l])
            while i + z[i] < n and s[z[i]] == s[i + z[i]]:
                z[i] += 1
            if i + z[i] - 1 > r:
                l, r = i, i + z[i] - 1
                
        return sum(z) + n

Java Solution:


java
class Solution {
    public long sumScores(String s) {
        int n = s.length();
        int[] z = new int[n];
        int l = 0, r = 0;

        for (int i = 1; i < n; i++) {
            if (i <= r)
                z[i] = Math.min(r - i + 1, z[i - l]);
            while (i + z[i] < n && s.charAt(z[i]) == s.charAt(i + z[i]))
                z[i]++;
            if (i + z[i] - 1 > r) {
                l = i;
                r = i + z[i] - 1;
            }
        }

        long sum = 0;
        for (int value : z)
            sum += value;
        return sum + n;
    }
}

JavaScript Solution:


javascript
class Solution {
    sumScores(s) {
        const n = s.length;
        const z = new Array(n).fill(0);
        let l = 0, r = 0;

        for (let i = 1; i < n; i++) {
            if (i <= r)
                z[i] = Math.min(r - i + 1, z[i - l]);
            while (i + z[i] < n && s[z[i]] === s[i + z[i]])
                z[i]++;
            if (i + z[i] - 1 > r) {
                l = i;
                r = i + z[i] - 1;
            }
        }

        return z.reduce((sum, value) => sum + value, 0) + n;
    }
}

C++ Solution:


cpp
class Solution {
public:
    long long sumScores(string s) {
        const int n = s.length();
        vector<int> z(n);
        int l = 0, r = 0;

        for (int i = 1; i < n; ++i) {
            if (i <= r)
                z[i] = min(r - i + 1, z[i - l]);
            while (i + z[i] < n && s[z[i]] == s[i + z[i]])
                ++z[i];
            if (i + z[i] - 1 > r) {
                l = i;
                r = i + z[i] - 1;
            }
        }

        return accumulate(begin(z), end(z), 0LL) + n;
    }
};

C# Solution:


csharp
public class Solution {
    public long SumScores(string s) {
        int n = s.Length;
        int[] z = new int[n];
        int l = 0, r = 0;
        
        for (int i = 1; i < n; i++) {
            if (i <= r)
                z[i] = Math.Min(r - i + 1, z[i - l]);
            while (i + z[i] < n && s[z[i]] == s[i + z[i]])
                z[i]++;
            if (i + z[i] - 1 > r) {
                l = i;
                r = i + z[i] - 1;
            }
        }

        long sum = 0;
        foreach (int value in z)
            sum += value;
        return sum + n;
    }
}

In conclusion, the above-discussed solutions use a smart approach that is Z-Algorithm to build the string iteratively and find the length of the longest common prefix. This can be easily implemented in different programming languages like Python, Java, JavaScript, C++, and C#. The overall time complexity of the above solutions is O(n), where n is the length of the input string.

Ready to land your dream job?

Unlock your dream job with a 2-minute evaluator for a personalized learning plan!

Start Evaluator
Discover Your Strengths and Weaknesses: Take Our 2-Minute Quiz to Tailor Your Study Plan:
Question 1 out of 10

Which of these properties could exist for a graph but not a tree?


Recommended Readings

Want a Structured Path to Master System Design Too? Don’t Miss This!