Encode and Decode Strings
Design an algorithm to encode a list of strings into a single string and decode it back.
Input: comma-separated strings. Output: decoded strings, one per line.
Example:
hello,world
hello world
- The input string "hello,world" is split into a list of strings using the comma as a delimiter, resulting in ["hello", "world"].
- Each string in the list is then encoded into a single string with a length prefix, but in this case, the problem description implies a simple split is sufficient for decoding.
- The encoded string is not explicitly needed for the output, so we proceed to decode the input string directly by splitting it into substrings.
- The decoded strings are then printed one per line, resulting in the output:
hello world
Constraints:
- 0 <= len(strs) <= 200
- 0 <= len(strs[i]) <= 200
- strs[i] may contain any character including commas
Background Knowledge
The "Encode and Decode Strings" problem involves designing an algorithm to encode a list of strings into a single string and then decode it back. This problem falls under the topic of Hash Maps & Counting, which are fundamental data structures and techniques in computer science. A hash map (also known as a hash table) is a data structure that stores key-value pairs in an array using a hash function to map keys to indices of the array. In the context of this problem, we can use a hash map to keep track of the length of each string.
The concept of encoding and decoding is also crucial in this problem. Encoding refers to the process of converting data into a coded form, while decoding is the reverse process of converting the coded form back into the original data. In this case, we need to encode a list of strings into a single string and then decode it back into the original list of strings. This requires careful consideration of how to represent the strings in the encoded form, taking into account the variable lengths of the strings.
To solve this problem, we need to understand how to manipulate strings and use data structures such as hash maps to keep track of the lengths of the strings. We also need to consider how to handle the encoding and decoding process, including how to separate the strings in the encoded form and how to reconstruct the original strings during decoding. This involves using techniques such as string concatenation and substring extraction.
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