How can I print out all possible letter combinations a given phone number can represent?

Question

I just tried for my first programming interview and one of the questions was to write a program that given a 7 digit telephone number, could print all possible combinations

Answer 1

Scala solution:

def mnemonics(phoneNum: String, dict: IndexedSeq[String]): Iterable[String] = {
  def mnemonics(d: Int, prefix: String): Seq[String] = {
    if (d >= phoneNum.length) {
      Seq(prefix)
    } else {
      for {
        ch <- dict(phoneNum.charAt(d).asDigit)
        num <- mnemonics(d + 1, s"$prefix$ch")
      } yield num
    }
  }

  mnemonics(0, "")
}

Assuming each digit maps to at most 4 characters, the number of recursive calls T satisfy the inequality T(n) <= 4T(n-1), which is of the order 4^n.

Answer 2

It is similar to a question called letter combinations of a phone number, here is my solution.
It works for an arbitrary number of digits, so long as the result doesn't exceed the memory limit.

import java.util.HashMap;
public class Solution {
    public ArrayList<String> letterCombinations(String digits) {
        ArrayList<String> res = new ArrayList<String>();
        ArrayList<String> preres = new ArrayList<String>();
        res.add("");

        for(int i = 0; i < digits.length(); i++) {
            String letters = map.get(digits.charAt(i));
            if (letters.length() == 0)
                continue;
            for(String str : res) {
                for(int j = 0; j < letters.length(); j++)
                    preres.add(str + letters.charAt(j));
            }
            res = preres;
            preres = new ArrayList<String>();
        }      
        return res;
    }

    static final HashMap<Character,String> map = new HashMap<Character,String>(){{
        put('1', "");
        put('2',"abc");
        put('3',"def");
        put('4',"ghi");
        put('5',"jkl");
        put('6',"mno");
        put('7',"pqrs");
        put('8',"tuv");
        put('9',"wxyz");
        put('0', "");
    }} ;
}

I'm not sure how 12-digit international numbers affect the design.

Edit: International numbers will also be handled

Answer 3

One option in Objective-C:

- (NSArray *)lettersForNumber:(NSNumber *)number {
    switch ([number intValue]) {
        case 2:
            return @[@"A",@"B",@"C"];
        case 3:
            return @[@"D",@"E",@"F"];
        case 4:
            return @[@"G",@"H",@"I"];
        case 5:
            return @[@"J",@"K",@"L"];
        case 6:
            return @[@"M",@"N",@"O"];
        case 7:
            return @[@"P",@"Q",@"R",@"S"];
        case 8:
            return @[@"T",@"U",@"V"];
        case 9:
            return @[@"W",@"X",@"Y",@"Z"];
        default:
            return nil;
    }
}

- (NSArray *)letterCombinationsForNumbers:(NSArray *)numbers {
    NSMutableArray *combinations = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithObjects:@"", nil];

    for (NSNumber *number in numbers) {
        NSArray *lettersNumber = [self lettersForNumber:number];

        //Ignore numbers that don't have associated letters
        if (lettersNumber.count == 0) {
            continue;
        }

        NSMutableArray *currentCombinations = [combinations mutableCopy];
        combinations = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

        for (NSString *letter in lettersNumber) {

            for (NSString *letterInResult in currentCombinations) {

                NSString *newString = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@%@", letterInResult, letter];
                [combinations addObject:newString];
            }
        }
    }

    return combinations;
}

Answer 4

namespace WordsFromPhoneNumber
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Summary description for WordsFromPhoneNumber
    /// </summary>
    [TestClass]
    public class WordsFromPhoneNumber
    {
        private static string[] Chars = { "0", "1", "ABC", "DEF", "GHI", "JKL", "MNO", "PQRS", "TUV", "WXYZ" };
        public WordsFromPhoneNumber()
        {
            //
            // TODO: Add constructor logic here
            //
        }

        #region overhead

        private TestContext testContextInstance;

        /// <summary>
        ///Gets or sets the test context which provides
        ///information about and functionality for the current test run.
        ///</summary>
        public TestContext TestContext
        {
            get
            {
                return testContextInstance;
            }
            set
            {
                testContextInstance = value;
            }
        }

        #region Additional test attributes
        //
        // You can use the following additional attributes as you write your tests:
        //
        // Use ClassInitialize to run code before running the first test in the class
        // [ClassInitialize()]
        // public static void MyClassInitialize(TestContext testContext) { }
        //
        // Use ClassCleanup to run code after all tests in a class have run
        // [ClassCleanup()]
        // public static void MyClassCleanup() { }
        //
        // Use TestInitialize to run code before running each test 
        // [TestInitialize()]
        // public void MyTestInitialize() { }
        //
        // Use TestCleanup to run code after each test has run
        // [TestCleanup()]
        // public void MyTestCleanup() { }
        //
        #endregion

        [TestMethod]
        public void TestMethod1()
        {
            IList<string> words = Words(new int[] { 2 });
            Assert.IsNotNull(words, "null");
            Assert.IsTrue(words.Count == 3, "count");
            Assert.IsTrue(words[0] == "A", "a");
            Assert.IsTrue(words[1] == "B", "b");
            Assert.IsTrue(words[2] == "C", "c");
        }

        [TestMethod]
        public void TestMethod23()
        {
            IList<string> words = Words(new int[] { 2 , 3});
            Assert.IsNotNull(words, "null");
            Assert.AreEqual(words.Count , 9, "count");
            Assert.AreEqual(words[0] , "AD", "AD");
            Assert.AreEqual(words[1] , "AE", "AE");
            Assert.AreEqual(words[2] , "AF", "AF");
            Assert.AreEqual(words[3] , "BD", "BD");
            Assert.AreEqual(words[4] , "BE", "BE");
            Assert.AreEqual(words[5] , "BF", "BF");
            Assert.AreEqual(words[6] , "CD", "CD");
            Assert.AreEqual(words[7] , "CE", "CE");
            Assert.AreEqual(words[8] , "CF", "CF");
        }

        [TestMethod]
        public void TestAll()
        {
            int[] number = new int [4];
            Generate(number, 0);
        }

        private void Generate(int[] number, int index)
        {
            for (int x = 0; x <= 9; x += 3)
            {
                number[index] = x;
                if (index == number.Length - 1)
                {
                    var w = Words(number);
                    Assert.IsNotNull(w);
                    foreach (var xx in number)
                    {
                        Console.Write(xx.ToString());
                    }
                    Console.WriteLine(" possible words:\n");
                    foreach (var ww in w)
                    {
                        Console.Write("{0} ", ww);
                    }
                    Console.WriteLine("\n\n\n");
                }
                else
                {
                    Generate(number, index + 1);
                }
            }
        }

        #endregion

        private IList<string> Words(int[] number)
        {
            List<string> words = new List<string>(100);
            Assert.IsNotNull(number, "null");
            Assert.IsTrue(number.Length > 0, "length");
            StringBuilder word = new StringBuilder(number.Length);
            AddWords(number, 0, word, words);

            return words;
        }

        private void AddWords(int[] number, int index, StringBuilder word, List<string> words)
        {
            Assert.IsTrue(index < number.Length, "index < length");
            Assert.IsTrue(number[index] >= 0, "number >= 0");
            Assert.IsTrue(number[index] <= 9, "number <= 9");

            foreach (var c in Chars[number[index]].ToCharArray())
            {
                word.Append(c);
                if (index < number.Length - 1)
                {
                    AddWords(number, index + 1, word, words);
                }
                else
                {
                    words.Add(word.ToString());
                }
                word.Length = word.Length - 1;
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 5

In JavaScript. A CustomCounter class takes care of incrementing indexes. Then just output the different possible combinations.

var CustomCounter = function(min, max) {
    this.min = min.slice(0)
    this.max = max.slice(0)
    this.curr = this.min.slice(0)
    this.length = this.min.length
}

CustomCounter.prototype.increment = function() {
    for (var i = this.length - 1, ii = 0; i >= ii; i--) {
        this.curr[i] += 1
        if (this.curr[i] > this.max[i]) {
            this.curr[i] = 0
        } else {
            break
        }
    }
}

CustomCounter.prototype.is_max = function() {
    for (var i = 0, ii = this.length; i < ii; ++i) {
        if (this.curr[i] !== this.max[i]) {
            return false
        }
    }
    return true
}

var PhoneNumber = function(phone_number) {
    this.phone_number = phone_number
    this.combinations = []
}

PhoneNumber.number_to_combinations = {
    1: ['1']
  , 2: ['2', 'a', 'b', 'c']
  , 3: ['3', 'd', 'e', 'f']
  , 4: ['4', 'g', 'h', 'i']
  , 5: ['5', 'j', 'k', 'l']
  , 6: ['6', 'm', 'n', 'o']
  , 7: ['7', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's']
  , 8: ['8', 't', 'u', 'v']
  , 9: ['9', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z']
  , 0: ['0', '+']
}

PhoneNumber.prototype.get_combination_by_digit = function(digit) {
    return PhoneNumber.number_to_combinations[digit]
}

PhoneNumber.prototype.add_combination_by_indexes = function(indexes) {
    var combination = ''
    for (var i = 0, ii = indexes.length; i < ii; ++i) {
        var phone_number_digit = this.phone_number[i]
        combination += this.get_combination_by_digit(phone_number_digit)[indexes[i]]
    }

    this.combinations.push(combination)
}

PhoneNumber.prototype.update_combinations = function() {
    var min_indexes = []
      , max_indexes = []

    for (var i = 0, ii = this.phone_number.length; i < ii; ++i) {
        var digit = this.phone_number[i]
        min_indexes.push(0)
        max_indexes.push(this.get_combination_by_digit(digit).length - 1)
    }

    var c = new CustomCounter(min_indexes, max_indexes)

    while(true) {
        this.add_combination_by_indexes(c.curr)
        c.increment()

        if (c.is_max()) {
            this.add_combination_by_indexes(c.curr)
            break
        }
    }
}

var phone_number = new PhoneNumber('120')
phone_number.update_combinations()
console.log(phone_number.combinations)

Answer 6

public class Permutation {

    //display all combination attached to a 3 digit number

    public static void main(String ar[]){

            char data[][]= new char[][]{{'a','k','u'},
                                {'b','l','v'},
                                {'c','m','w'},
                                {'d','n','x'},
                                {'e','o','y'},
                                {'f','p','z'},
                                {'g','q','0'},
                                {'h','r','0'},
                                {'i','s','0'},
                                {'j','t','0'}};


        int num1, num2, num3=0;
        char tempdata[][]= new char[3][3];
        StringBuilder number = new StringBuilder("324"); // a 3 digit number

        //copy data to a tempdata array-------------------
        num1= Integer.parseInt(number.substring(0,1));
        tempdata[0] = data[num1];
        num2= Integer.parseInt(number.substring(1,2));
        tempdata[1] = data[num2];
        num3= Integer.parseInt(number.substring(2,3));
        tempdata[2] = data[num3];

        //display all combinations--------------------
        char temp2[][]=tempdata;
        char tempd, tempd2;
        int i,i2, i3=0;
        for(i=0;i<3;i++){
                tempd = temp2[0][i];
             for (i2=0;i2<3;i2++){
                 tempd2 = temp2[1][i2];
                 for(i3=0;i3<3;i3++){
                     System.out.print(tempd);
                     System.out.print(tempd2);
                     System.out.print(temp2[2][i3]);
                     System.out.println();
                 }//for i3

            }//for i2
         }
    }

}//end of class