Checking if two strings are permutations of each other in Python

Question

I\'m checking if two strings a and b are permutations of each other, and I\'m wondering what the ideal way to do this is in Python. From the Zen of

Answer 1

heuristically you're probably better to split them off based on string size.

Pseudocode:

returnvalue = false
if len(a) == len(b)
   if len(a) < threshold
      returnvalue = (sorted(a) == sorted(b))
   else
       returnvalue = naminsmethod(a, b)
return returnvalue

If performance is critical, and string size can be large or small then this is what I'd do.

It's pretty common to split things like this based on input size or type. Algorithms have different strengths or weaknesses and it would be foolish to use one where another would be better... In this case Namin's method is O(n), but has a larger constant factor than the O(n log n) sorted method.

Answer 2

def matchPermutation(s1, s2):
  a = []
  b = []

  if len(s1) != len(s2):
    print 'length should be the same'
  return

  for i in range(len(s1)):
    a.append(s1[i])

  for i in range(len(s2)):
    b.append(s2[i])

  if set(a) == set(b):
    print 'Permutation of each other'
  else:
    print 'Not a permutation of each other'
  return

#matchPermutaion('rav', 'var') #returns True
matchPermutaion('rav', 'abc') #returns False

Answer 3

def permute(str1,str2):
    if sorted(str1) == sorted(str2):
        return True
    else:
        return False

str1="hello"
str2='olehl'
a=permute(str1,str2)
print(a

Answer 4

This is an O(n) solution in Python using hashing with dictionaries. Notice that I don't use default dictionaries because the code can stop this way if we determine the two strings are not permutations after checking the second letter for instance.

def if_two_words_are_permutations(s1, s2):
    if len(s1) != len(s2):
        return False
    dic = {}
for ch in s1:
    if ch in dic.keys():
        dic[ch] += 1
    else:
        dic[ch] = 1
for ch in s2:
    if not ch in dic.keys():
        return False
    elif dic[ch] == 0:
        return False
    else:
        dic[ch] -= 1
return True

Answer 5

Go with the first one - it's much more straightforward and easier to understand. If you're actually dealing with incredibly large strings and performance is a real issue, then don't use Python, use something like C.

As far as the Zen of Python is concerned, that there should only be one obvious way to do things refers to small, simple things. Obviously for any sufficiently complicated task, there will always be zillions of small variations on ways to do it.

Answer 6

This is derived from @patros' answer.

from collections import Counter

def is_anagram(a, b, threshold=1000000):
    """Returns true if one sequence is a permutation of the other.

    Ignores whitespace and character case.
    Compares sorted sequences if the length is below the threshold,
    otherwise compares dictionaries that contain the frequency of the
    elements.
    """
    a, b = a.strip().lower(), b.strip().lower()
    length_a, length_b = len(a), len(b)
    if length_a != length_b:
        return False
    if length_a < threshold:
        return sorted(a) == sorted(b)
    return Counter(a) == Counter(b)  # Or use @namin's method if you don't want to create two dictionaries and don't mind the extra typing.