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Count of strings to be concatenated with a character having frequency greater than sum of others

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Given an array arr[] containing N strings, the task is to find the maximum number of strings that can be concatenated such that one character has a frequency greater than the sum of the frequencies of all others.

Example:

Input: arr[]: {“qpr, “pppsp, “t”}
Output: 3
Explanation: Concatenate all 3 strings to get: “aprpppspt”. The frequency of character ‘p’ is 5 and sum of all other frequencies is 4.

Input: arr[]: {“bcdba”, “abaa”, “acc”, “abcbc”}
Output:  2

 

Approach: To solve this problem follow the below steps:

  1. Iterate for all characters, i.e. from ‘a’ to ‘z’ and in each iteration find the net frequency of that character in all strings. Here net frequency can be calculated by subtracting all other frequencies from it, which means if the net frequency is greater than 0 then that character’s frequency is more than the sum of all other frequencies. Store these frequencies in a vector v.
  2. Now, sort v in decreasing order.
  3. And then find for each character, the maximum number of strings that can be combined, so that the frequency of that character is greater than the sum of other frequencies.
  4. Return the maximum possible answer.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++




// C++ implementation for the above approach
 
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Function of find the
// frequency of all characters after
// reducing the sum of
// other frequencies in strings
vector<int> frequency(vector<string>& arr,
                      int ch)
{
 
    // Vector to store frequency
    vector<int> v;
 
    // Iterate over the array of strings
    for (int i = 0; i < arr.size(); i++) {
 
        string s = arr[i];
 
        // Variable to store frequencies
        int net_freq = 0;
 
        // Iterate over the string
        for (auto x : s) {
            // If x is equal
            // to current character
            // increment net_freq by 1
            if (x == ch)
                net_freq++;
 
            // Else decrement net_freq by 1
            else
                net_freq--;
        }
 
        // After the iteration of string
        // store the frequency in vector
        v.push_back(net_freq);
    }
 
    return v;
}
 
// Function to find
// the longest string that
// can be made from
// a given vector of strings
int longestConcatenatedStr(
    vector<string>& arr)
{
    // Variable to store maximum count
    int mx = 0;
 
    // Iterate over all alphabets
    for (char ch = 'a'; ch <= 'z'; ch++) {
 
        // Vector to store the
        // net_frequency of character
        // ch after reducing
        // the sum of all other
        // frequencies in all strings
        vector<int> v = frequency(arr, ch);
 
        // Sort the vector in decreasing order
        sort(v.begin(), v.end(),
             greater<int>());
 
        // Variable to store answer
        int ans = 0;
 
        int sum = 0;
        for (auto x : v) {
            sum += x;
 
            // If sum is greater than 0
            // increment ans by 1
            if (sum > 0) {
                ans++;
            }
        }
 
        // Keep track of the maximum one
        mx = max(mx, ans);
    }
    // Return the maximum value
    return mx;
}
 
// Driver Code
int main()
{
    vector<string> arr
        = { "abac", "bacbc", "aacab" };
 
    cout << longestConcatenatedStr(arr);
 
    return 0;
}


Java




// Java implementation for the above approach
import java.util.*;
 
class GFG {
  static String[] arr = { "abac", "bacbc", "aacab" };
 
  // Function of find the
  // frequency of all characters after
  // reducing the sum of
  // other frequencies in Strings
  static Vector<Integer> frequency(int ch)
  {
 
    // Vector to store frequency
    Vector<Integer> v = new Vector<>();
 
    // Iterate over the array of Strings
    for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
 
      String s = arr[i];
 
      // Variable to store frequencies
      int net_freq = 0;
 
      // Iterate over the String
      for (char x : s.toCharArray())
      {
 
        // If x is equal
        // to current character
        // increment net_freq by 1
        if (x == ch)
          net_freq++;
 
        // Else decrement net_freq by 1
        else
          net_freq--;
      }
 
      // After the iteration of String
      // store the frequency in vector
      v.add(net_freq);
    }
 
    return v;
  }
 
  // Function to find
  // the longest String that
  // can be made from
  // a given vector of Strings
  static int longestConcatenatedStr()
  {
 
    // Variable to store maximum count
    int mx = 0;
 
    // Iterate over all alphabets
    for (char ch = 'a'; ch <= 'z'; ch++) {
 
      // Vector to store the
      // net_frequency of character
      // ch after reducing
      // the sum of all other
      // frequencies in all Strings
      Vector<Integer> v = frequency(ch);
 
      // Sort the vector in decreasing order
      Collections.sort(v);
      Collections.reverse(v);
      // Variable to store answer
      int ans = 0;
 
      int sum = 0;
      for (int x : v) {
        sum += x;
 
        // If sum is greater than 0
        // increment ans by 1
        if (sum > 0) {
          ans++;
        }
      }
 
      // Keep track of the maximum one
      mx = Math.max(mx, ans);
    }
 
    // Return the maximum value
    return mx;
  }
 
  // Driver Code
  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
 
    System.out.print(longestConcatenatedStr());
  }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Rajput-Ji


Python3




# python implementation for the above approach
 
# Function of find the
# frequency of all characters after
# reducing the sum of
# other frequencies in strings
def frequency(arr, ch):
 
    # Vector to store frequency
    v = []
 
    # Iterate over the array of strings
    for i in range(0, len(arr)):
 
        s = arr[i]
 
        # Variable to store frequencies
        net_freq = 0
 
        # Iterate over the string
        for x in s:
           
            # If x is equal
            # to current character
            # increment net_freq by 1
            if (x == ch):
                net_freq += 1
 
            # Else decrement net_freq by 1
            else:
                net_freq -= 1
 
        # After the iteration of string
        # store the frequency in vector
        v.append(net_freq)
 
    return v
 
 
# Function to find
# the longest string that
# can be made from
# a given vector of strings
def longestConcatenatedStr(arr):
 
    # Variable to store maximum count
    mx = 0
 
    # Iterate over all alphabets
    for ch in range(0, 26):
 
        # Vector to store the
        # net_frequency of character
        # ch after reducing
        # the sum of all other
        # frequencies in all strings
        v = frequency(arr, chr(ch + ord('a')))
 
        # Sort the vector in decreasing order
        v.sort(reverse=True)
 
        # Variable to store answer
        ans = 0
 
        sum = 0
        for x in v:
            sum += x
 
            # If sum is greater than 0
            # increment ans by 1
            if (sum > 0):
                ans += 1
 
        # Keep track of the maximum one
        mx = max(mx, ans)
 
    # Return the maximum value
    return mx
 
# Driver Code
if __name__ == "__main__":
 
    arr = ["abac", "bacbc", "aacab"]
 
    print(longestConcatenatedStr(arr))
 
# This code is contributed by rakeshsahni


C#




using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
 
// C# implementation for the above approach
class GFG
{
   
  // Function of find the
  // frequency of all characters after
  // reducing the sum of
  // other frequencies in strings
  static int[] frequency(string[] arr, int ch)
  {
 
    // List to store frequency
    List<int> v = new List<int>();
 
    // Iterate over the array of strings
    for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++) {
 
      string s = arr[i];
 
      // Variable to store frequencies
      int net_freq = 0;
 
      // Iterate over the string
      for (int j = 0; j < s.Length; j++)
      {
         
        // If x is equal
        // to current character
        // increment net_freq by 1
        char x = s[j];
        if (x == ch)
          net_freq++;
 
        // Else decrement net_freq by 1
        else
          net_freq--;
      }
 
      // After the iteration of string
      // store the frequency in vector
      v.Add(net_freq);
    }
    int[] u = v.ToArray();
    return u;
  }
   
  // Function to find
  // the longest string that
  // can be made from
  // a given vector of strings
  static int longestConcatenatedStr(string[] arr)
  {
     
    // Variable to store maximum count
    int mx = 0;
 
    // Iterate over all alphabets
    for (char ch = 'a'; ch <= 'z'; ch++) {
 
      // Array to store the
      // net_frequency of character
      // ch after reducing
      // the sum of all other
      // frequencies in all strings
      int[] v = frequency(arr, ch);
 
      // Sort the vector in decreasing order
      Array.Sort(v);
      Array.Reverse(v);
      // Variable to store answer
      int ans = 0;
 
      int sum = 0;
      for (int i = 0; i < v.Length; i++) {
        int x = v[i];
        sum += x;
 
        // If sum is greater than 0
        // increment ans by 1
        if (sum > 0) {
          ans++;
        }
      }
 
      // Keep track of the maximum one
      mx = Math.Max(mx, ans);
    }
     
    // Return the maximum value
    return mx;
  }
  static void Main()
  {
    string[] arr = { "abac", "bacbc", "aacab" };
 
    Console.Write(longestConcatenatedStr(arr));
  }
}
 
// This code is contributed by garg28harsh.


Javascript




<script>
 
       // JavaScript Program to implement
       // the above approach
 
       // Function of find the
       // frequency of all characters after
       // reducing the sum of
       // other frequencies in strings
       function frequency(arr, ch) {
 
           // Vector to store frequency
           let v = [];
 
           // Iterate over the array of strings
           for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
 
               let s = arr[i];
 
               // Variable to store frequencies
               let net_freq = 0;
 
               // Iterate over the string
               for (let x of s)
               {
                
                   // If x is equal
                   // to current character
                   // increment net_freq by 1
                   if (x == ch)
                       net_freq++;
 
                   // Else decrement net_freq by 1
                   else
                       net_freq--;
               }
 
               // After the iteration of string
               // store the frequency in vector
               v.push(net_freq);
           }
 
           return v;
       }
 
       // Function to find
       // the longest string that
       // can be made from
       // a given vector of strings
       function longestConcatenatedStr(
           arr)
      {
       
           // Variable to store maximum count
           let mx = 0;
 
           // Iterate over all alphabets
           for (let ch = 'a'; ch <= 'z'; ch++) {
 
               // Vector to store the
               // net_frequency of character
               // ch after reducing
               // the sum of all other
               // frequencies in all strings
               let v = frequency(arr, ch);
 
               // Sort the vector in decreasing order
               v.sort(function (a, b) { return b - a })
 
               // Variable to store answer
               let ans = 0;
 
               let sum = 0;
               for (let x of v) {
                   sum += x;
 
                   // If sum is greater than 0
                   // increment ans by 1
                   if (sum > 0) {
                       ans++;
                   }
               }
 
               // Keep track of the maximum one
               mx = Math.max(mx, ans);
           }
            
           // Return the maximum value
           return mx;
       }
 
       // Driver Code
       let arr
           = ["abac", "bacbc", "aacab"];
 
       document.write(longestConcatenatedStr(arr));
 
   // This code is contributed by Potta Lokesh
   </script>


Output

2

Time Complexity: O(NlogN)
Auxiliary Space: O(N)



Last Updated : 22 Nov, 2022
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