If I only have to worry about ASCII characters, it can be done in O(n) time with O(1) space. My code also prints the permutations out, but can be easily modified to simply return true at the first instance instead. The main part of the code is located in the printAllPermutations() method. Here is my solution:
Some Background
This is a solution that I came up with, it is somewhat similar to the idea behind the Rabin Karp Algorithm. Before I understanding the algorithm, I will explain the math behind it as follows:
Let S = {A_1, ..., A_n} be a multiset list of size N that contains only prime numbers. Let the sum of the numbers in S equal some integer Q. Then S is the only possible entirely prime multiset of size N, whose elements can sum to Q.
Because of this, we know we can map every character to a prime number. I propose a map as follows:
1 -> 1st prime
2 -> 2nd prime
3 -> 3rd prime
...
n -> nth prime
If we do this (which we can because ASCII only has 256 possible characters), then it becomes very easy for us to find each permutation in the larger string B.
The Algorithm:
We will do the following:
1: calculate the sum of the primes mapped to by each of the characters in A, let's call it smallHash.
2: create 2 indices (righti and lefti). righti is initialized to zero, and lefti is initialzed to the size of A.
ex: | |
v v
"abcdabcd"
^ ^
| |
3: Create a variable currHash, and initialize it to the sum of the corresponding prime numbers mapped to by each of the characters in B, between (inclusive) righti, and lefti - 1.
4: Iterate both righti and lefti by 1, each time updating currHash by subtracting the prime mapped from the character that is no longer in the range (lefti - 1) and adding the prime corresponding to the character just added to the range (righti)
5: Each time currHash is equal to smallHash, the characters in the range must be a permutation. So we print them out.
6: Continue until we have reached the end of B. (When righti is equal to the length of B)
This solution runs in O(n) time complexity and O(1) space.
The Actual Code:
public class FindPermutationsInString {
//This is an array containing the first 256 prime numbers
static int primes[] =
{
2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29,
31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71,
73, 79, 83, 89, 97, 101, 103, 107, 109, 113,
127, 131, 137, 139, 149, 151, 157, 163, 167, 173,
179, 181, 191, 193, 197, 199, 211, 223, 227, 229,
233, 239, 241, 251, 257, 263, 269, 271, 277, 281,
283, 293, 307, 311, 313, 317, 331, 337, 347, 349,
353, 359, 367, 373, 379, 383, 389, 397, 401, 409,
419, 421, 431, 433, 439, 443, 449, 457, 461, 463,
467, 479, 487, 491, 499, 503, 509, 521, 523, 541,
547, 557, 563, 569, 571, 577, 587, 593, 599, 601,
607, 613, 617, 619, 631, 641, 643, 647, 653, 659,
661, 673, 677, 683, 691, 701, 709, 719, 727, 733,
739, 743, 751, 757, 761, 769, 773, 787, 797, 809,
811, 821, 823, 827, 829, 839, 853, 857, 859, 863,
877, 881, 883, 887, 907, 911, 919, 929, 937, 941,
947, 953, 967, 971, 977, 983, 991, 997, 1009, 1013,
1019, 1021, 1031, 1033, 1039, 1049, 1051, 1061, 1063, 1069,
1087, 1091, 1093, 1097, 1103, 1109, 1117, 1123, 1129, 1151,
1153, 1163, 1171, 1181, 1187, 1193, 1201, 1213, 1217, 1223,
1229, 1231, 1237, 1249, 1259, 1277, 1279, 1283, 1289, 1291,
1297, 1301, 1303, 1307, 1319, 1321, 1327, 1361, 1367, 1373,
1381, 1399, 1409, 1423, 1427, 1429, 1433, 1439, 1447, 1451,
1453, 1459, 1471, 1481, 1483, 1487, 1489, 1493, 1499, 1511,
1523, 1531, 1543, 1549, 1553, 1559, 1567, 1571, 1579, 1583,
1597, 1601, 1607, 1609, 1613, 1619
};
public static void main(String[] args) {
String big = "abcdabcd";
String small = "abcd";
printAllPermutations(big, small);
}
static void printAllPermutations(String big, String small) {
// If the big one is smaller than the small one,
// there can't be any permutations, so return
if (big.length() < small.length()) return;
// Initialize smallHash to be the sum of the primes
// corresponding to each of the characters in small.
int smallHash = primeHash(small, 0, small.length());
// Initialize righti and lefti.
int lefti = 0, righti = small.length();
// Initialize smallHash to be the sum of the primes
// corresponding to each of the characters in big.
int currentHash = primeHash(small, 0, righti);
while (righti <= big.length()) {
// If the current section of big is a permutation
// of small, print it out.
if (currentHash == smallHash)
System.out.println(big.substring(lefti, righti));
// Subtract the corresponding prime value in position
// lefti. Then increment lefti
currentHash -= primeHash(big.charAt(lefti++));
if (righti < big.length()) // To prevent index out of bounds
// Add the corresponding prime value in position righti.
currentHash += primeHash(big.charAt(righti));
//Increment righti.
righti++;
}
}
// Gets the sum of all the nth primes corresponding
// to n being each of the characters in str, starting
// from position start, and ending at position end - 1.
static int primeHash(String str, int start, int end) {
int value = 0;
for (int i = start; i < end; i++) {
value += primeHash(str.charAt(i));
}
return value;
}
// Get's the n-th prime, where n is the ASCII value of chr
static int primeHash(Character chr) {
return primes[chr];
}
}
Keep in mind, however, that this solution only works when the characters can only be ASCII characters. If we are talking about unicode, we start getting into prime numbers that exceed the maximum size of an int, or even a double. Also, I'm not sure that there are 1,114,112 known primes.
