interactive-coding-challenges/arrays-strings/reverse_string.ipynb

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    "<small><i>This notebook was prepared by [Donne Martin](http://donnemartin.com). Source and license info is on [GitHub](https://bit.ly/code-notes).</i></small>"
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    "## Problem: Implement the function void Reverse(char* str)\n",
    "\n",
    "* [Clarifying Questions](#Clarifying-Questions)\n",
    "* [Test Cases](#Test-Cases)\n",
    "* [Algorithm](#Algorithm)\n",
    "* [Code](#Code)\n",
    "* [Pythonic-Code: Not In-Place](#Pythonic-Code:-Not-In-Place)"
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   "source": [
    "## Clarifying Questions\n",
    "\n",
    "* Based on the function signature, it seems you have to implement this in C/C++?\n",
    "    * Yes\n",
    "* Can you use additional data structures?\n",
    "    * No, do the operation in-place"
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   "source": [
    "## Test Cases\n",
    "\n",
    "* NULL input\n",
    "* '' -> ''\n",
    "* 'foo bar' -> 'rab oof'"
   ]
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   "source": [
    "## Algorithm\n",
    "\n",
    "We'll want to keep two pointers:\n",
    "* i is a pointer to the first char\n",
    "* j is a pointer to the last char\n",
    "\n",
    "To get a pointer to the last char, we need to loop through all characters, take note of null terminator.\n",
    "\n",
    "* while i < j\n",
    "    * swap i and j\n",
    "\n",
    "Complexity:\n",
    "* Time: O(n)\n",
    "* Space: In-place\n",
    "\n",
    "Note:\n",
    "* Instead of using i, you can use str instead, although this might not be as intuitive."
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   "source": [
    "## Code"
   ]
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    "# %load reverse_string.cpp\n",
    "#include <stdio.h>\n",
    "\n",
    "void Reverse(char* str) {\n",
    "    if (str) {\n",
    "        char* i = str;\t// first letter\n",
    "        char* j = str;\t// last letter\n",
    "        \n",
    "        // find the end of the string\n",
    "        while (*j) {\n",
    "            j++;\n",
    "        }\n",
    "        \n",
    "        // don't point to the null terminator\n",
    "        j--;\n",
    "        \n",
    "        char tmp;\n",
    "        \n",
    "        // swap chars to reverse the string\n",
    "        while (i < j) {\n",
    "            tmp = *i;\n",
    "            *i++ = *j;\n",
    "            *j-- = tmp;\n",
    "        }\n",
    "    }\n",
    "}\n",
    "\n",
    "int main() {\n",
    "    char test0[] = \"\";\n",
    "    char test1[] = \"foo\";\n",
    "    Reverse(NULL);\n",
    "    Reverse(test0);\n",
    "    Reverse(test1);\n",
    "    printf(\"%s \\n\", test0);\n",
    "    printf(\"%s \\n\", test1);\n",
    "    return 0;\n",
    "}"
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   "source": [
    "## Pythonic-Code: Not In-Place\n",
    "\n",
    "The following code is Pythonic, but requires using additional data structures as Python strings are immutable.  You could use a bytearray or a list instead of a string to simulate manipulating an array of characters."
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   "source": [
    "def reverse_string_alt(string):\n",
    "    return string[::-1]\n",
    "\n",
    "def reverse_string_alt2(string):\n",
    "    return ''.join(reversed(string))"
   ]
  }
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