題目

Given an input string (s) and a pattern (p), implement regular expression matching with support for '.' and '*'.

'.' Matches any single character.
'*' Matches zero or more of the preceding element.
The matching should cover the entire input string (not partial).

Note:

• s could be empty and contains only lowercase letters a-z.
• p could be empty and contains only lowercase letters a-z, and characters like . or *.

Example 1:

Input:
s = "aa"
p = "a"
Output: false
Explanation: "a" does not match the entire string "aa".

Example 2:

Input:
s = "aa"
p = "a*"
Output: true
Explanation: '*' means zero or more of the preceding element, 'a'. Therefore, by repeating 'a' once, it becomes "aa".

Example 3:

Input:
s = "ab"
p = ".*"
Output: true
Explanation: ".*" means "zero or more (*) of any character (.)".

Example 4:

Input:
s = "aab"
p = "c*a*b"
Output: true
Explanation: c can be repeated 0 times, a can be repeated 1 time. Therefore, it matches "aab".

Example 5:

Input:
s = "mississippi"
p = "mis*is*p*."
Output: false

解析

此題給了pattern (p)及string (s)，pattern裡的 . 符號可代表任意字元，而 * 符號可代表空值或前一個字元，要比對p是否可匹配組成s。

解法

class Solution {
    public boolean isMatch(String text, String pattern) {
        if (pattern.isEmpty()) return text.isEmpty();
        boolean first_match = (!text.isEmpty() &&
                               (pattern.charAt(0) == text.charAt(0) || pattern.charAt(0) == '.'));

        if (pattern.length() >= 2 && pattern.charAt(1) == '*'){
            return (isMatch(text, pattern.substring(2)) ||
                    (first_match && isMatch(text.substring(1), pattern)));
        } else {
            return first_match && isMatch(text.substring(1), pattern.substring(1));
        }
    }
}

心得

在寫Code之前，可以先從設想Test Case來著手，也就是所謂的TDD(Test Driven Development)，並且須考慮到Edge Case，也就是當patter或string為空值的時候是否依然可匹配，接著比對第一個字元是否匹配，接著使用遞歸方式處理其它字元。

希望透過記錄解題的過程，可以對於資料結構及演算法等有更深一層的想法。
如有需訂正的地方歡迎告知，若有更好的解法也歡迎留言，謝謝。