leetcode_gym/_problems/ransomNote.md

layout, title, last_solved, category, leetcode_url, status

layout	title	last_solved	category	leetcode_url	status
page	Ransom Note		string	https://leetcode.com/problems/ransom-note	Attempted

Problem

Given an arbitrary ransom note string and another string containing letters from all the magazines, write a function that will return true if the ransom note can be constructed from the magazines ; otherwise, it will return false.

Each letter in the magazine string can only be used once in your ransom note.

 

Example 1:

Input: ransomNote = "a", magazine = "b"
Output: false
Example 2:

Input: ransomNote = "aa", magazine = "ab"
Output: false
Example 3:

Input: ransomNote = "aa", magazine = "aab"
Output: true

Solution

{% highlight python %}

def canConstruct(self, ransomNote: str, magazine: str) -> bool:
    
    letterCounts = Counter(magazine)
    
    print(letterCounts)
    
    for  c in ransomNote:
        
        if c in letterCounts and letterCounts[c]>0:
            letterCounts[c]-=1
            print(letterCounts)
            
        else:
            return False
    
    return True

{% endhighlight %}