How do you solve Print Words Vertically on LeetCode?

Print Words Vertically (LeetCode #1324) can be solved using Brute Force or Optimal Solution. The optimal approach is Optimal Solution with O(n) time complexity and O(n) space complexity. Key insight: Understanding how to handle spaces is crucial for formatting the output correctly.

What is the brute force solution for Print Words Vertically?

The brute force approach for Print Words Vertically is Brute Force, with O(n²) time complexity and O(1) space complexity. The brute force approach involves splitting the input string into words and then constructing the vertical representation by iterating through each character of the words. This method is straightforward but inefficient for longer strings. The optimal Optimal Solution approach improves this to O(n).

What algorithm or data structure is used to solve Print Words Vertically?

Print Words Vertically uses the following concepts: Array, String, Simulation. The recommended patterns to study are: Array, String Manipulation.

What are the interview tips for Print Words Vertically?

Always clarify the requirements, especially regarding formatting and edge cases. Think about the data structures you use; they can significantly affect performance. Practice writing clean and efficient code, as readability is important in interviews.

What are common mistakes when solving Print Words Vertically?

Forgetting to trim trailing spaces from the output strings. Not accounting for words of different lengths when constructing the vertical representation.

#1324

Print Words Vertically

Medium

ArrayStringSimulationArrayString Manipulation

LeetCode ↗

Approaches

Brute ForceOptimal

Complexity Comparison

	Brute Force	Optimal Solution★
Time	O(n²)	O(n)
Space	O(1)	O(n)

💡

Intuition

Time O(n)Space O(n)

The optimal solution builds on the brute force approach but uses a more efficient way to handle the vertical construction by directly using a list of strings to store the vertical words, avoiding unnecessary string concatenation.

⚙️

Algorithm

3 steps

1Step 1: Split the string into words.
2Step 2: Create a list of empty strings for each vertical word.
3Step 3: Iterate through each word and character, appending characters to the corresponding vertical word string.

solution.py11 lines

1def printVertically(s):
2    words = s.split()
3    max_length = max(len(word) for word in words)
4    result = [''] * max_length
5    for word in words:
6        for i in range(max_length):
7            if i < len(word):
8                result[i] += word[i]
9            else:
10                result[i] += ' '
11    return [word.rstrip() for word in result]

ℹ

Complexity note: The time complexity is O(n) because we iterate through each character of the words exactly once. The space complexity is O(n) due to the storage of the result strings.

1Understanding how to handle spaces is crucial for formatting the output correctly.
2Recognizing the maximum length of words helps in determining the vertical structure.

Solutions and explanations are original Tejav content. Problem titles © LeetCode — use the LeetCode button above for the full problem statement.