How do you solve Score of a String on LeetCode?

Score of a String (LeetCode #3110) can be solved using Brute Force or Optimal Solution. The optimal approach is Optimal Solution with O(n) time complexity and O(1) space complexity. Key insight: The score is based on the absolute differences of ASCII values, which can be computed in a single pass.

What is the brute force solution for Score of a String?

The brute force approach for Score of a String is Brute Force, with O(n) time complexity and O(1) space complexity. The brute force approach involves calculating the absolute difference between the ASCII values of each pair of adjacent characters in the string and summing these differences. It's straightforward but not the most efficient method. The optimal Optimal Solution approach improves this to O(n).

What algorithm or data structure is used to solve Score of a String?

Score of a String uses the following concepts: String. The recommended patterns to study are: Array, String Manipulation.

What are the interview tips for Score of a String?

Always clarify the problem statement and constraints before jumping into coding. Consider edge cases like strings with repeated characters or minimal length. Explain your thought process as you code to demonstrate your understanding.

What are common mistakes when solving Score of a String?

Not using absolute values correctly, leading to negative scores. Forgetting to loop through the string correctly, causing index errors.

#3110

Score of a String

Easy

StringArrayString Manipulation

LeetCode ↗

Approaches

Brute ForceOptimal

Complexity Comparison

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

💡

Intuition

Time O(n)Space O(1)

The optimal solution is essentially the same as the brute force approach but emphasizes that we can compute the score in a single pass through the string, making it efficient and straightforward.

⚙️

Algorithm

4 steps

1Step 1: Initialize a variable 'score' to 0.
2Step 2: Iterate through the string from the first character to the second last character.
3Step 3: For each character, compute the absolute difference with the next character and add it to 'score'.
4Step 4: Return the 'score' after the loop.

solution.py5 lines

1def score_of_string(s):
2    score = 0
3    for i in range(len(s) - 1):
4        score += abs(ord(s[i]) - ord(s[i + 1]))
5    return score

ℹ

Complexity note: The time complexity remains O(n) as we still only loop through the string once. The space complexity is O(1) since we are using a fixed amount of space for the score variable.

1The score is based on the absolute differences of ASCII values, which can be computed in a single pass.
2Understanding ASCII values helps in visualizing the problem.

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