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Number of strings of length N with no palindromic sub string

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Given two positive integers N, M. The task is to find the number of strings of length N under the alphabet set of size M such that no substrings of size greater than 1 is palindromic.

Examples: 

Input : N = 2, M = 3
Output : 6
In this case, set of alphabet are 3, say {A, B, C}
All possible string of length 2, using 3 letters are:
{AA, AB, AC, BA, BB, BC, CA, CB, CC}
Out of these {AA, BB, CC} contain palindromic substring, 
so our answer will be 
8 - 2 = 6.

Input : N = 2, M = 2
Output : 2
Out of {AA, BB, AB, BA}, only {AB, BA} contain 
non-palindromic substrings.

First, observe, a string does not contain any palindromic substring if the string doesn’t have any palindromic substring of the length 2 and 3, because all the palindromic string of the greater lengths contains at least one palindromic substring of the length of 2 or 3, basically in the center.

So, the following is true: 

  • There are M ways to choose the first symbol of the string.
  • Then there are (M – 1) ways to choose the second symbol of the string. Basically, it should not be equal to first one.
  • Then there are (M – 2) ways to choose any next symbol. Basically, it should not coincide with the previous symbols, that aren’t equal.

Knowing this, we can evaluate the answer in the following ways: 

  • If N = 1, then the answer will be M.
  • If N = 2, then the answer is M*(M – 1).
  • If N >= 3, then M * (M – 1) * (M – 2)N-2.

Below is the implementation of above idea : 

C++




// CPP program to count number of strings of
// size m such that no substring is palindrome.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Return the count of strings with
// no palindromic substring.
int numofstring(int n, int m)
{   
    if (n == 1)
        return m;
 
    if (n == 2)
        return m * (m - 1);
 
    return m * (m - 1) * pow(m - 2, n - 2);
}
 
// Driven Program
int main()
{   
    int n = 2, m = 3;
    cout << numofstring(n, m) << endl;
    return 0;
}


Java




// Java program to count number of strings of
// size m such that no substring is palindrome.
import java.io.*;
 
class GFG {
     
    // Return the count of strings with
    // no palindromic substring.
    static int numofstring(int n, int m)
    {
        if (n == 1)
            return m;
     
        if (n == 2)
            return m * (m - 1);
     
        return m * (m - 1) * (int)Math.pow(m - 2, n - 2);
    }
     
    // Driven Program
    public static void main (String[] args)
    {
        int n = 2, m = 3;
        System.out.println(numofstring(n, m));
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by ajit.


Python3




# Python3 program to count number of strings of
# size m such that no substring is palindrome
 
# Return the count of strings with
# no palindromic substring.
def numofstring(n, m):
    if n == 1:
        return m
 
    if n == 2:
        return m * (m - 1)
 
    return m * (m - 1) * pow(m - 2, n - 2)
 
# Driven Program
n = 2
m = 3
print (numofstring(n, m))
 
# This code is contributed
# by Shreyanshi Arun.


C#




// C# program to count number of strings of
// size m such that no substring is palindrome.
using System;
 
class GFG {
     
    // Return the count of strings with
    // no palindromic substring.
    static int numofstring(int n, int m)
    {
        if (n == 1)
            return m;
     
        if (n == 2)
            return m * (m - 1);
     
        return m * (m - 1) * (int)Math.Pow(m - 2,
                                           n - 2);
    }
     
    // Driver Code
    public static void Main ()
    {
        int n = 2, m = 3;
        Console.Write(numofstring(n, m));
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Nitin Mittal.


PHP




<?php
// PHP program to count number
// of strings of size m such
// that no substring is palindrome.
 
// Return the count of strings with
// no palindromic substring.
function numofstring($n, $m)
{
    if ($n == 1)
        return $m;
 
    if ($n == 2)
        return $m * ($m - 1);
 
    return $m * ($m - 1) *
           pow($m - 2, $n - 2);
}
 
// Driver Code
{
    $n = 2; $m = 3;
    echo numofstring($n, $m) ;
    return 0;
}
 
// This code is contributed by nitin mittal.
?>


Javascript




<script>
// JavaScript program to count number of strings of
// size m such that no substring is palindrome.
 
    // Return the count of strings with
    // no palindromic substring.
    function numofstring(n, m)
    {
        if (n == 1)
            return m;
       
        if (n == 2)
            return m * (m - 1);
       
        return m * (m - 1) * Math.pow(m - 2, n - 2);
    }
 
// Driver Code
 
        let n = 2, m = 3;
        document.write(numofstring(n, m));
 
// This code is contributed by code_hunt.
</script>


Output

6

Time Complexity: O(log n), for using of pow function where n is the given input.
Auxiliary Space: O(1), no extra space is required, so it is a constant.



Last Updated : 22 Nov, 2022
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