
Q: You are given an array of strings words. Each element of words consists of two lowercase English letters.
Create the longest possible palindrome by selecting some elements from words and concatenating them in any order. Each element can be selected at most once.
Return the length of the longest palindrome that you can create. If it is impossible to create any palindrome, return 0.
A palindrome is a string that reads the same forward and backward.
A: 1. A Hash Map Approach
class Solution {243Please respect copyright.PENANAbZc6sl3ekZ
public int longestPalindrome(String[] words) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAfeY240nytk
HashMap<String, Integer> count = new HashMap<String, Integer>();243Please respect copyright.PENANAWmVY7qk1K4
// Count the number of occurrences of each word using a hashmap243Please respect copyright.PENANAQqB0UvPUSe
for (String word : words) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAcPBqITFMhu
Integer countOfTheWord = count.get(word);243Please respect copyright.PENANAQ1TVuNalWR
if (countOfTheWord == null) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAVp0CViMejm
count.put(word, 1);243Please respect copyright.PENANA5QSor7mRup
} else {243Please respect copyright.PENANAX7QmbPl8Hu
count.put(word, countOfTheWord + 1);243Please respect copyright.PENANAA6JenbSl02
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAH8WiKt2sDr
}243Please respect copyright.PENANALaWdOg9vGI
// Initialize answer=0, central = false. The answer will denote the number of words in the final string and the boolean variable central will denote whether we have a central word243Please respect copyright.PENANAxebiJcD5uA
int answer = 0;243Please respect copyright.PENANAepdjwOElh6
boolean central = false;243Please respect copyright.PENANAUtB7D3L6J6
for (Map.Entry<String, Integer> entry : count.entrySet()) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAVtBt0dD7g1
String word = entry.getKey();243Please respect copyright.PENANAY7VpxVyEwz
int countOfTheWord = entry.getValue();243Please respect copyright.PENANAtr8URP0wM1
// if the word is a palindrome243Please respect copyright.PENANAUkCGOvrobQ
if (word.charAt(0) == word.charAt(1)) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAkSApzZxN6a
if (countOfTheWord % 2 == 0) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAk3NGTOiTDb
answer += countOfTheWord;243Please respect copyright.PENANAnIdAAmxKNC
} else {243Please respect copyright.PENANAuS7gc81tuj
answer += countOfTheWord - 1;243Please respect copyright.PENANA45lLdCNWxE
central = true;243Please respect copyright.PENANAd9R2K5XOvp
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAlUL9exnyy0
// consider a pair of non-palindrome words such that one is the reverse of another243Please respect copyright.PENANAVfPTFz7qjI
} else if (word.charAt(0) < word.charAt(1)) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAmkPfccwvpa
String reversedWord = "" + word.charAt(1) + word.charAt(0);243Please respect copyright.PENANAOTwmnSR0Fo
if (count.containsKey(reversedWord)) {243Please respect copyright.PENANA3CeH5U9IP4
answer += 2 * Math.min(countOfTheWord, count.get(reversedWord));243Please respect copyright.PENANAXyorFL3hVF
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAEEpvgSSibL
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAZQjflpIDTf
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAxln2lzEb0U
if (central) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAfTNYUT5IRM
answer++;243Please respect copyright.PENANAgOrg71Wvw2
}243Please respect copyright.PENANA68eswH9oLG
return 2 * answer;243Please respect copyright.PENANAoKj9VDilJ8
}243Please respect copyright.PENANA3qBdrpJ5CL
}
2: A Two-Dimensional Array Approach
class Solution {243Please respect copyright.PENANAc9V4I2dbPC
public int longestPalindrome(String[] words) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAKYqXfdTZdx
final int alphabetSize = 26;243Please respect copyright.PENANAC8UK54gD5P
int[][] count = new int[alphabetSize][alphabetSize];243Please respect copyright.PENANACCAxToCvpD
// Count the number of occurrences of each word using a two-dimensional array. 243Please respect copyright.PENANAVilUuo1OQy
for (String word : words) {243Please respect copyright.PENANA3VO7rIbrkP
count[word.charAt(0) - 'a'][word.charAt(1) - 'a']++;243Please respect copyright.PENANAUWg2E5lp2O
}243Please respect copyright.PENANA4wZPP9KIHn
// The answer will denote the number of words in the final string and the boolean variable central will denote whether we have a central word243Please respect copyright.PENANAD2c736pHp9
int answer = 0;243Please respect copyright.PENANANbZSciS1ai
boolean central = false;243Please respect copyright.PENANAgHkNOa2FBE
for (int i = 0; i < alphabetSize; i++) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAgyE41BQysK
if (count[i][i] % 2 == 0) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAoodjprDNwQ
answer += count[i][i];243Please respect copyright.PENANAJetiHz2TAq
} else {243Please respect copyright.PENANArkdwtTz4Da
answer += count[i][i] - 1;243Please respect copyright.PENANAcx76fGhg12
central = true;243Please respect copyright.PENANAhCVsDzcIL3
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAfN1neIQ7qE
for (int j = i + 1; j < alphabetSize; j++) {243Please respect copyright.PENANAUCBolhX5Xx
answer += 2 * Math.min(count[i][j], count[j][i]);243Please respect copyright.PENANAfl4JU6AR7u
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAcFhoFyYGri
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAcpsB9BrV8i
if (central) {243Please respect copyright.PENANA9vicJnEjJI
answer++;243Please respect copyright.PENANA5RvkZP7NkV
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAxVO6WpgXjn
return 2 * answer;243Please respect copyright.PENANASKIKQ30cC5
}243Please respect copyright.PENANAdEHD28tHMz
}
243Please respect copyright.PENANAGOROnDtb6X