Write a function that returns the longest palindro

Question

e.g "ccddcc" in the string "abaccddccefe"

I thought of a solution but it runs in O(n^2) time

Algo 1:

Steps: Its a brute force method

1. Have 2 for loops
   for i = 1 to i less than array.length -1
   for j=i+1 to j less than array.length
2. This way you can get substring of every possible combination from the array
3. Have a palindrome function which checks if a string is palindrome
4. so for every substring (i,j) call this function, if it is a palindrome store it in a string variable
5. If you find next palindrome substring and if it is greater than the current one, replace it with current one.
6. Finally your string variable will have the answer

Issues: 1. This algo runs in O(n^2) time.

Algo 2:

1. Reverse the string and store it in diferent array
2. Now find the largest matching substring between both the array
3. But this too runs in O(n^2) time

Can you guys think of an algo which runs in a better time. If possible O(n) time

Answer 1

I was asked this question recently. Here's the solution I [eventually] came up with. I did it in JavaScript because it's pretty straightforward in that language.

The basic concept is that you walk the string looking for the smallest multi-character palindrome possible (either a two or three character one). Once you have that, expand the borders on both sides until it stops being a palindrome. If that length is longer than current longest one, store it and move along.

// This does the expanding bit.
function getsize(s, start, end) {
    var count = 0, i, j;
    for (i = start, j = end; i >= 0 && j < s.length; i--, j++) {
        if (s[i] !== s[j]) {
            return count;
        }
        count = j - i + 1; // keeps track of how big the palindrome is
    }
    return count;
}

function getBiggestPalindrome(s) {
    // test for simple cases
    if (s === null || s === '') { return 0; }
    if (s.length === 1) { return 1; }
    var longest = 1;
    for (var i = 0; i < s.length - 1; i++) {
        var c = s[i]; // the current letter
        var l; // length of the palindrome
        if (s[i] === s[i+1]) { // this is a 2 letter palindrome
            l = getsize(s, i, i+1);
        }
        if (i+2 < s.length && s[i] === s[i+2]) { // 3 letter palindrome
            l = getsize(s, i+1, i+1);
        }
        if (l > longest) { longest = l; }
    }
    return longest;
}

This could definitely be cleaned up and optimized a little more, but it should have pretty good performance in all but the worst case scenario (a string of the same letter).

Answer 2

Here i have written a logic try it :)

public class palindromeClass{

public  static String longestPalindromeString(String in) {
        char[] input = in.toCharArray();
        int longestPalindromeStart = 0;
        int longestPalindromeEnd = 0;

        for (int mid = 0; mid < input.length; mid++) {
            // for odd palindrome case like 14341, 3 will be the mid
            int left = mid-1;
            int right = mid+1;
            // we need to move in the left and right side by 1 place till they reach the end
            while (left >= 0 && right < input.length) {
                // below check to find out if its a palindrome
                if (input[left] == input[right]) {
                    // update global indexes only if this is the longest one till now
                    if (right - left > longestPalindromeEnd
                            - longestPalindromeStart) {
                        longestPalindromeStart = left;
                        longestPalindromeEnd = right;
                    }
                }
                else
                    break;
                left--;
                right++;
            }
            // for even palindrome, we need to have similar logic with mid size 2
            // for that we will start right from one extra place
            left = mid;
            right = mid + 1;// for example 12333321 when we choose 33 as mid
            while (left >= 0 && right < input.length)
            {
                if (input[left] == input[right]) {
                    if (right - left > longestPalindromeEnd
                            - longestPalindromeStart) {
                        longestPalindromeStart = left;
                        longestPalindromeEnd = right;
                    }
                }
                else
                    break;
                left--;
                right++;
            }


        }
        // we have the start and end indexes for longest palindrome now
        return in.substring(longestPalindromeStart, longestPalindromeEnd + 1);
    }
public static void main(String args[]){
System.out.println(longestPalindromeString("HYTBCABADEFGHABCDEDCBAGHTFYW12345678987654321ZWETYGDE"));
}

}

Answer 3

my solution is :

static string GetPolyndrom(string str)
{
    string Longest = "";

    for (int i = 0; i < str.Length; i++)
    {
        if ((str.Length - 1 - i) < Longest.Length)
        {
            break;
        }
        for (int j = str.Length - 1; j > i; j--)
        {
            string str2 = str.Substring(i, j - i + 1);
            if (str2.Length > Longest.Length)
            {
                if (str2 == str2.Reverse())
                {
                    Longest = str2;
                }
            }
            else
            {
                break;
            }
        }

    }
    return Longest;
}

Answer 4

The Algo 2 may not work for all string. Here is an example of such a string "ABCDEFCBA".

Not that the string has "ABC" and "CBA" as its substring. If you reverse the original string, it will be "ABCFEDCBA". and the longest matching substring is "ABC" which is not a palindrome.

You may need to additionally check if this longest matching substring is actually a palindrome which has the running time of O(n^3).

Answer 5

I have written the following Java program out of curiosity, simple and self-explanatory HTH. Thanks.

/**
 *
 * @author sanhn
 */
public class CheckPalindrome {

    private static String max_string = "";

    public static void checkSubString(String s){
        System.out.println("Got string is "+s);
        for(int i=1;i<=s.length();i++){
            StringBuilder s1 = new StringBuilder(s.substring(0,i));
            StringBuilder s2 = new StringBuilder(s.substring(0,i));
            s2.reverse();
            if(s1.toString().equals(s2.toString())){
                if(max_string.length()<=s1.length()){
                    max_string = s1.toString();
                    System.out.println("tmp max is "+max_string);
                }

            }
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args){
        String s="HYTBCABADEFGHABCDEDCBAGHTFYW1234567887654321ZWETYGDE";

        for(int i=0; i<s.length(); i++)
            checkSubString(s.substring(i, s.length()));

        System.out.println("Max string is "+max_string);
    }
}

Answer 6

Following code calculates Palidrom for even length and odd length strings.

Not the best solution but works for both the cases

HYTBCABADEFGHABCDEDCBAGHTFYW12345678987654321ZWETYGDE HYTBCABADEFGHABCDEDCBAGHTFYW1234567887654321ZWETYGDE

private static String getLongestPalindrome(String string) {
    String odd = getLongestPalindromeOdd(string);
    String even = getLongestPalindromeEven(string);
    return (odd.length() > even.length() ? odd : even);
}

public static String getLongestPalindromeOdd(final String input) {
    int rightIndex = 0, leftIndex = 0;
    String currentPalindrome = "", longestPalindrome = "";
    for (int centerIndex = 1; centerIndex < input.length() - 1; centerIndex++) {
        leftIndex = centerIndex;
        rightIndex = centerIndex + 1;
        while (leftIndex >= 0 && rightIndex < input.length()) {
            if (input.charAt(leftIndex) != input.charAt(rightIndex)) {
                break;
            }
            currentPalindrome = input.substring(leftIndex, rightIndex + 1);
            longestPalindrome = currentPalindrome.length() > longestPalindrome
                    .length() ? currentPalindrome : longestPalindrome;
            leftIndex--;
            rightIndex++;
        }
    }
    return longestPalindrome;
}

public static String getLongestPalindromeEven(final String input) {
    int rightIndex = 0, leftIndex = 0;
    String currentPalindrome = "", longestPalindrome = "";
    for (int centerIndex = 1; centerIndex < input.length() - 1; centerIndex++) {
        leftIndex = centerIndex - 1;
        rightIndex = centerIndex + 1;
        while (leftIndex >= 0 && rightIndex < input.length()) {
            if (input.charAt(leftIndex) != input.charAt(rightIndex)) {
                break;
            }
            currentPalindrome = input.substring(leftIndex, rightIndex + 1);
            longestPalindrome = currentPalindrome.length() > longestPalindrome
                    .length() ? currentPalindrome : longestPalindrome;
            leftIndex--;
            rightIndex++;
        }
    }
    return longestPalindrome;
}