LeetCode 664: Strange Printer Solution

Master LeetCode problem 664 (Strange Printer), a hard challenge, with our optimized solutions in Java, C++, and Python. Explore detailed explanations, test your code in our interactive editor, and prepare for coding interviews.

664. Strange Printer

Hard

String Dynamic Programming

Problem Explanation

Explanation

To solve this problem, we can use dynamic programming. We will define a 3D dp array where dp[i][j][k] represents the minimum number of turns needed to print the substring s[i:j+1] if we print character s[j] k times at the end. We can then iterate over the string s and update the dp array based on the optimal choices. Finally, the answer will be stored in dp[0][n-1][0] where n is the length of the string s.

Solution Code

class Solution {
    public int strangePrinter(String s) {
        int n = s.length();
        int[][][] dp = new int[n][n][n];
        
        for (int i = n - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
            for (int j = i; j < n; j++) {
                for (int k = 0; k <= j - i; k++) {
                    if (k == 0) {
                        dp[i][j][k] = 1 + (j > i ? dp[i][j - 1][0] : 0);
                    } else {
                        dp[i][j][k] = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
                        for (int m = i; m < j; m++) {
                            if (s.charAt(m) == s.charAt(j)) {
                                dp[i][j][k] = Math.min(dp[i][j][k], dp[i][m][k - 1] + dp[m + 1][j - 1][0]);
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        
        return dp[0][n - 1][0];
    }
}

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