{ "cells": [ { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "This notebook was prepared by [Donne Martin](http://donnemartin.com). Source and license info is on [GitHub](https://github.com/donnemartin/interactive-coding-challenges)." ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "# Challenge Notebook" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Problem: Implement an algorithm to determine if a string has all unique characters\n", "\n", "* [Constraints](#Constraints)\n", "* [Test Cases](#Test-Cases)\n", "* [Algorithm](#Algorithm)\n", "* [Code](#Code)\n", "* [Unit Test](#Unit-Test)\n", "* [Solution Notebook](#Solution-Notebook)" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Constraints\n", "\n", "* Can you assume the string is ASCII?\n", " * Yes\n", " * Note: Unicode strings could require special handling depending on your language\n", "* Can we assume this is case sensitive?\n", " * Yes\n", "* Can you use additional data structures?\n", " * Yes" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Test Cases\n", "\n", "* '' -> True\n", "* 'foo' -> False\n", "* 'bar' -> True" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Algorithm\n", "\n", "Refer to the [Solution Notebook](http://nbviewer.ipython.org/github/donnemartin/interactive-coding-challenges/blob/master/arrays_strings/unique_chars/unique_chars_solution.ipynb). If you are stuck and need a hint, the solution notebook's algorithm discussion might be a good place to start." ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Code" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", "execution_count": 2, "metadata": { "collapsed": false }, "outputs": [], "source": [ "def unique_chars(string):\n", " from collections import defaultdict\n", " \n", " char_table = defaultdict(int)\n", " for c in string:\n", " if char_table[c] > 0:\n", " return False\n", " else:\n", " char_table[c] = 1\n", " return True" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Unit Test" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "**The following unit test is expected to fail until you solve the challenge.**" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", "execution_count": 3, "metadata": { "collapsed": false }, "outputs": [ { "name": "stdout", "output_type": "stream", "text": [ "Success: test_unique_chars\n" ] } ], "source": [ "# %load test_unique_chars.py\n", "from nose.tools import assert_equal\n", "\n", "\n", "class TestUniqueChars(object):\n", "\n", " def test_unique_chars(self, func):\n", " assert_equal(func(''), True)\n", " assert_equal(func('foo'), False)\n", " assert_equal(func('bar'), True)\n", " print('Success: test_unique_chars')\n", "\n", "def main():\n", " test = TestUniqueChars()\n", " test.test_unique_chars(unique_chars)\n", " try:\n", " test.test_unique_chars(unique_chars_hash)\n", " test.test_unique_chars(unique_chars_inplace)\n", " except NameError:\n", " # Alternate solutions are only defined\n", " # in the solutions file\n", " pass\n", " \n", "if __name__ == '__main__':\n", " main()" ] }, { "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ "## Solution Notebook\n", "\n", "Review the [Solution Notebook](http://nbviewer.ipython.org/github/donnemartin/interactive-coding-challenges/blob/master/arrays_strings/unique_chars/unique_chars_solution.ipynb) for a discussion on algorithms and code solutions." ] } ], "metadata": { "kernelspec": { "display_name": "Python 2", "language": "python", "name": "python2" }, "language_info": { "codemirror_mode": { "name": "ipython", "version": 2 }, "file_extension": ".py", "mimetype": "text/x-python", "name": "python", "nbconvert_exporter": "python", "pygments_lexer": "ipython2", "version": "2.7.6" } }, "nbformat": 4, "nbformat_minor": 0 }