Pair of strings having longest common prefix of maximum length in given array

Last Updated : 06 Apr, 2023

Given an array of strings arr[], the task is to find the pair of strings from the given array whose length of the longest common prefix between them is maximum. If multiple solutions exist, then print any one of them.

Examples:

Input: arr[] = {“geeksforgeeks”, “geeks”, “geeksforcse”, }
Output: (geeksforgeeks, geeksforcse)
Explanation:
All possible pairs and their longest common prefix are:
(“geeksforgeeks”, “geeks”) has the longest common prefix = “geeks”
(“geeksforgeeks”, “geeksforcse”) has the longest common prefix = “geeksfor”
(“geeks”, “geeksforcse”) has the longest common prefix = “geeks”
Therefore, a pair having maximum length of the longest common prefix is (“geeksforgeeks”, “geeksforcse”)

Input: arr[] = {“abbcbgfh”, “bcdee”, “bcde”, “abbcbde”}
Output: (abbcbgfh, abbcbde)

Naive Approach: The simplest approach to solve this problem is to generate all possible pairs of the given array and calculate the length of the longest common prefix of each pair. Finally, print the pair having a maximum length of the longest common prefix.

C++

// C++ program to implement
// the above approach
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Function to calculate length of longest common prefix
int longestCommonPrefix(string str1, string str2) {
    int i = 0, j = 0, count = 0;
    while (i < str1.length() && j < str2.length()) {
        // If characters do not match, break the loop
        if (str1[i] != str2[j]) {
            break;
        }
        // Keep incrementing the count for each matching character
        count++;
        i++;
        j++;
    }
    return count;
}
 
// Function to print the pair having maximum
// length of the longest common prefix
void findMaxLenPair(vector<string>& arr, int N)
{
    int maxLen = -1;
    string first, second;
    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
        for (int j = i + 1; j < N; j++) {
            // Get the length of the longest common prefix of the current pair
            int len = longestCommonPrefix(arr[i], arr[j]);
            // If the length of the current longest common prefix is 
            // greater than the maximum length seen so far then
            // update the maximum length and the pair
            if (len > maxLen) {
                maxLen = len;
                first = arr[i];
                second = arr[j];
            }
        }
    }
    // Print pairs having maximum length
    // of the longest common prefix
    cout << "(" << first << " " << second << ")";
}
 
// Driver Code
int main()
{
    vector<string> arr
        = { "geeksforgeeks", "geeks", "geeksforcse" };
    int N = arr.size();
    findMaxLenPair(arr, N);
    return 0;
}
 
// This code is contributed by Vaibhav.

Java

import java.util.*;
 
public class Main {
 
  // Function to calculate length of longest common prefix
  public static int longestCommonPrefix(String str1, String str2) 
  {
    int i = 0, j = 0, count = 0;
    while (i < str1.length() && j < str2.length()) 
    {
 
      // If characters do not match, break the loop
      if (str1.charAt(i) != str2.charAt(j)) {
        break;
      }
 
      // Keep incrementing the count for each matching character
      count++;
      i++;
      j++;
    }
    return count;
  }
 
  // Function to print the pair having maximum
  // length of the longest common prefix
  public static void findMaxLenPair(List<String> arr, int N)
  {
    int maxLen = -1;
    String first = "", second = "";
    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
      for (int j = i + 1; j < N; j++) {
        // Get the length of the longest common prefix of the current pair
        int len = longestCommonPrefix(arr.get(i), arr.get(j));
        // If the length of the current longest common prefix is 
        // greater than the maximum length seen so far then
        // update the maximum length and the pair
        if (len > maxLen) {
          maxLen = len;
          first = arr.get(i);
          second = arr.get(j);
        }
      }
    }
    // Print pairs having maximum length
    // of the longest common prefix
    System.out.println("(" + first + " " + second + ")");
  }
 
  // Driver Code
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    List<String> arr = new ArrayList<String>(
      Arrays.asList("geeksforgeeks", "geeks", "geeksforcse")
    );
    int N = arr.size();
    findMaxLenPair(arr, N);
  }
}

Python3

# Python Program to implement the above approach
 
# Function to calculate length of longest common prefix
def longestCommonPrefix(str1, str2):
    i, j, count = 0, 0, 0
 
    while(i < len(str1) and j < len(str2)):
        # If characters do not match, break the loop
        if (str1[i] != str2[j]):
            break
        # Keep incrementing the count for each matching character
        count += 1
        i += 1
        j += 1
    return count
 
# Function to print the pair having maximum
# length of the longest common prefix
def findMaxLenPair(arr, N):
    maxLen = -1
    first, second = "", ""
    for i in range(N):
        for j in range(i+1, N):
            # Get the length of the longest common prefix of the current pair
            len = longestCommonPrefix(arr[i], arr[j])
            # If the length of the current longest common prefix is
            # greater than the maximum length seen so far then
            # update the maximum length and the pair
            if len > maxLen:
                maxLen = len
                first = arr[i]
                second = arr[j]
    # Print pairs having maximum length
    # of the longest common prefix
    print("(", first, " ", second, ")")
 
# Driver Code
if __name__ == '__main__':
    arr = ["geeksforgeeks", "geeks", "geeksforcse"]
    N = len(arr)
    findMaxLenPair(arr, N)

Javascript

// JS Program to implement the above approach
 
// Function to calculate length of longest common prefix
function longestCommonPrefix(str1, str2) {
    let i = 0, j = 0, count = 0;
 
    while (i < str1.length && j < str2.length) {
        // If characters do not match, break the loop
        if (str1[i] !== str2[j]) {
            break;
        }
        // Keep incrementing the count for each matching character
        count++;
        i++;
        j++;
    }
    return count;
}
 
// Function to print the pair having maximum
// length of the longest common prefix
function findMaxLenPair(arr, N) {
    let maxLen = -1;
    let first = "", second = "";
    for (let i = 0; i < N; i++) {
        for (let j = i + 1; j < N; j++) {
            // Get the length of the longest common prefix of the current pair
            let len = longestCommonPrefix(arr[i], arr[j]);
            // If the length of the current longest common prefix is
            // greater than the maximum length seen so far then
            // update the maximum length and the pair
            if (len > maxLen) {
                maxLen = len;
                first = arr[i];
                second = arr[j];
            }
        }
    }
    // Print pairs having maximum length
    // of the longest common prefix
    console.log("(", first, " ", second, ")");
}
 
// Driver Code
function main() {
    let arr = ["geeksforgeeks", "geeks", "geeksforcse"];
    let N = arr.length;
    findMaxLenPair(arr, N);
}
 
main();

C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
 
public class GFG {
 
    // Function to calculate length of longest common prefix
    static int longestCommonPrefix(string str1, string str2) {
        int i = 0, j = 0, count = 0;
        while (i < str1.Length && j < str2.Length) {
            // If characters do not match, break the loop
            if (str1[i] != str2[j]) {
                break;
            }
            // Keep incrementing the count for each matching character
            count++;
            i++;
            j++;
        }
        return count;
    }
 
    // Function to print the pair having maximum
    // length of the longest common prefix
    static void findMaxLenPair(List<string> arr, int N) {
        int maxLen = -1;
        string first = "", second = "";
        for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
            for (int j = i + 1; j < N; j++) {
                // Get the length of the longest common prefix of the current pair
                int len = longestCommonPrefix(arr[i], arr[j]);
                // If the length of the current longest common prefix is 
                // greater than the maximum length seen so far then
                // update the maximum length and the pair
                if (len > maxLen) {
                    maxLen = len;
                    first = arr[i];
                    second = arr[j];
                }
            }
        }
        // Print pairs having maximum length
        // of the longest common prefix
        Console.WriteLine("(" + first + " " + second + ")");
    }
 
    // Driver Code
    static void Main(string[] args) {
        List<string> arr = new List<string> {"geeksforgeeks", "geeks", "geeksforcse"};
        int N = arr.Count;
        findMaxLenPair(arr, N);
    }
}

Output

(geeksforgeeks geeksforcse)

Time Complexity: O(N² * M), Where M denotes the length of the longest string
Auxiliary Space: O(1)

Efficient Approach: The problem can be solved using Trie. The idea is to traverse the given array and for each array element, find the maximum length of the longest prefix present in Trie, and insert the current element into the Trie. Finally, print the pair having a maximum length of the longest common prefix. Follow the steps below to solve the problem:

Create a Trie having root node, say root to store each element of the given array.
Traverse the given array and for each array element, find the maximum length of the longest prefix present in Trie and insert the current element into Trie.
Finally, print the pair having a maximum length of the longest common prefix.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// C++ program to implement
// the above approach
 
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Structure of Trie
struct TrieNode {
    // Stores characters of
    // each string
    TrieNode* child[256];
 
    TrieNode() { child[0] = child[1] = NULL; }
};
 
// Function to insert a string into Trie
void insertTrie(TrieNode* root, string str)
{
 
    // Stores length of the string
    int M = str.length();
 
    // Traverse the string str
    for (int i = 0; i < M; i++) {
 
        // If str[i] is not present
        // in current path of Trie
        if (!root->child[str[i]]) {
 
            // Create a new node
            // of Trie
            root->child[str[i]] = new TrieNode();
        }
 
        // Update root
        root = root->child[str[i]];
    }
}
 
// Function to find the maximum length of
// longest common prefix in Trie with str
int findStrLen(TrieNode* root, string str)
{
 
    // Stores length of str
    int M = str.length();
 
    // Stores length of longest
    // common prefix in Trie with str
    int len = 0;
 
    // Traverse the string str
    for (int i = 0; i < M; i++) {
 
        // If str[i] is present in
        // the current path of Trie
        if (root->child[str[i]]) {
 
            // Update len
            len++;
 
            // Update root
            root = root->child[str[i]];
        }
        else {
            return len;
        }
    }
    return len;
}
 
// Function to print the pair having maximum
// length of the longest common prefix
void findMaxLenPair(vector<string>& arr, int N)
{
    // Stores index of the string having
    // maximum length of longest common prefix
    int idx = -1;
 
    // Stores maximum length of longest
    // common prefix.
    int len = 0;
 
    // Create root node of Trie
    TrieNode* root = new TrieNode();
 
    // Insert arr[0] into Trie
    insertTrie(root, arr[0]);
 
    // Traverse the array.
    for (int i = 1; i < N; i++) {
 
        // Stores maximum length of longest
        // common prefix in Trie with arr[i]
        int temp = findStrLen(root, arr[i]);
 
        // If temp is greater than len
        if (temp > len) {
 
            // Update len
            len = temp;
 
            // Update idx
            idx = i;
        }
 
        insertTrie(root, arr[i]);
    }
 
    // Traverse array arr[]
    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
 
        // Stores length of arr[i]
        int M = arr[i].length();
 
        // Check if maximum length of
        // longest common prefix > M
        if (i != idx && M >= len) {
            bool found = true;
            // Traverse string arr[i]
            // and arr[j]
            for (int j = 0; j < len; j++) {
 
                // If current character of both
                // string does not match.
                if (arr[i][j] != arr[idx][j]) {
                    found = false;
                    break;
                }
            }
 
            // Print pairs having maximum length
            // of the longest common prefix
            if (found) {
                cout << "(" << arr[i] << ", " << arr[idx]
                     << ")";
                return;
            }
        }
    }
}
 
// Driver Code
int main()
{
    vector<string> arr
        = { "geeksforgeeks", "geeks", "geeksforcse" };
 
    int N = arr.size();
    findMaxLenPair(arr, N);
}

Java

// Java program for the above approach
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
 
// class of Trie
class TrieNode {
    TrieNode[] child = new TrieNode[256];
    TrieNode() {}
}
 
class GFG {
 
    // Function to insert a string into Trie
    private static void insertTrie(TrieNode root,
                                   String str)
    {
 
        // Stores length of the string
        int M = str.length();
 
        // Traverse the string str
        for (int i = 0; i < M; i++) {
 
            // If str[i] is not present
            // in current path of Trie
            if (root.child[str.charAt(i)] == null) {
 
                // Create a new node
                // of Trie
                root.child[str.charAt(i)] = new TrieNode();
            }
 
            // Update root
            root = root.child[str.charAt(i)];
        }
    }
 
    // Function to find the maximum length of
    // longest common prefix in Trie with str
    private static int findStrLen(TrieNode root, String str)
    {
 
        // Stores length of str
        int M = str.length();
 
        // Stores length of longest
        // common prefix in Trie with str
        int len = 0;
 
        // Traverse the string str
        for (int i = 0; i < M; i++) {
 
            // If str[i] is present in
            // the current path of Trie
            if (root.child[str.charAt(i)] != null) {
 
                // Update len
                len++;
 
                // Update root
                root = root.child[str.charAt(i)];
            }
            else {
                return len;
            }
        }
        return len;
    }
 
    // Function to print the pair having maximum
    // length of the longest common prefix
    private static void findMaxLenPair(List<String> arr,
                                       int N)
    {
        // Stores index of the string having
        // maximum length of longest common prefix
        int idx = -1;
 
        // Stores maximum length of longest
        // common prefix.
        int len = 0;
 
        // Create root node of Trie
        TrieNode root = new TrieNode();
 
        // Insert arr[0] into Trie
        insertTrie(root, arr.get(0));
 
        // Traverse the array.
        for (int i = 1; i < N; i++) {
 
            // Stores maximum length of longest
            // common prefix in Trie with arr[i]
            int temp = findStrLen(root, arr.get(i));
 
            // If temp is greater than len
            if (temp > len) {
 
                // Update len
                len = temp;
 
                // Update idx
                idx = i;
            }
 
            insertTrie(root, arr.get(i));
        }
 
        // Traverse array arr[]
        for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
 
            // Stores length of arr[i]
            int M = arr.get(i).length();
 
            // Check if maximum length of
            // longest common prefix > M
            if (i != idx && M >= len) {
                boolean found = true;
                // Traverse string arr[i]
                // and arr[j]
                for (int j = 0; j < len; j++) {
 
                    // If current character of both
                    // string does not match.
                    if (arr.get(i).charAt(j)
                        != arr.get(idx).charAt(j)) {
                        found = false;
                        break;
                    }
                }
 
                // Print pairs having maximum length
                // of the longest common prefix
                if (found) {
                    System.out.println("(" + arr.get(i)
                                       + ", " + arr.get(idx)
                                       + ")");
                    return;
                }
            }
        }
    }
 
    // Driver Code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        List<String> arr = Arrays.asList(new String[] {
            "geeksforgeeks", "geeks", "geeksforcse" });
        int N = arr.size();
        findMaxLenPair(arr, N);
    }
}

Python3

# Python3 program to implement
# the above approach
 
# class of Trie
class TrieNode:
    def __init__(self):
        self.child = dict()
 
# function to insert a string into trie
def insertTrie(root, string):
    M = len(string)  # stores string length
    length = 0
    for i in range(M):  # traversing string
        if string[i] not in root.child:
            root.child[string[i]] = TrieNode()
        root = root.child[string[i]]
 
def findStrLen(root, string):
    M = len(string)
    length = 0
    for i in range(M):
        if string[i] not in root.child:
            length += 1
            root = root.child[string[i]]
        else:
            return length
    return length
 
def findMaxLenPair(arr, N):
    idx = -1
    length = 0
    root = TrieNode()
    insertTrie(root, arr[0])
    for i in range(1, N):
        temp = findStrLen(root, arr[i])
        if temp > length:
            length = temp
            idx = i
        insertTrie(root, arr[i])
    for i in range(N):
        M = len(arr[i])
        if (i != idx and M >= length):
            found = True
            for j in range(length):
                if arr[i][j] != arr[idx][j]:
                    found = False
                    break
            if (found):
                print("(" + arr[i] + ", " + arr[idx] + ")")
                return
 
# Driver Code
arr = ["geeksforgeeks", "geeks", "geeksforcse"]
N = len(arr)
findMaxLenPair(arr, N)
 
# This code is contributed by phasing17

C#

// C# program for the above approach
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
 
// class of Trie
public class GFG
{
 
  public class TrieNode
  {
    public TrieNode[] child = new TrieNode[256];
    public TrieNode() {}
  };
 
  // Function to insert a string into Trie
  public static void insertTrie(TrieNode root,
                                String str)
  {
 
    // Stores length of the string
    int M = str.Length;
 
    // Traverse the string str
    for (int i = 0; i < M; i++) {
 
      // If str[i] is not present
      // in current path of Trie
      if (root.child[str[i]] == null) {
 
        // Create a new node
        // of Trie
        root.child[str[i]] = new TrieNode();
      }
 
      // Update root
      root = root.child[str[i]];
    }
  }
 
  // Function to find the maximum length of
  // longest common prefix in Trie with str
  public static int findStrLen(TrieNode root, String str)
  {
 
    // Stores length of str
    int M = str.Length;
 
    // Stores length of longest
    // common prefix in Trie with str
    int len = 0;
 
    // Traverse the string str
    for (int i = 0; i < M; i++) {
 
      // If str[i] is present in
      // the current path of Trie
      if (root.child[str[i]] != null) {
 
        // Update len
        len++;
 
        // Update root
        root = root.child[str[i]];
      }
      else {
        return len;
      }
    }
    return len;
  }
 
  // Function to print the pair having maximum
  // length of the longest common prefix
  public static void findMaxLenPair(List<string> arr,
                                    int N)
  {
    // Stores index of the string having
    // maximum length of longest common prefix
    int idx = -1;
 
    // Stores maximum length of longest
    // common prefix.
    int len = 0;
 
    // Create root node of Trie
    TrieNode root = new TrieNode();
 
    // Insert arr[0] into Trie
    insertTrie(root, arr[0]);
 
    // Traverse the array.
    for (int i = 1; i < N; i++) {
 
      // Stores maximum length of longest
      // common prefix in Trie with arr[i]
      int temp = findStrLen(root, arr[i]);
 
      // If temp is greater than len
      if (temp > len) {
 
        // Update len
        len = temp;
 
        // Update idx
        idx = i;
      }
 
      insertTrie(root, arr[i]);
    }
 
    // Traverse array arr[]
    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
 
      // Stores length of arr[i]
      int M = arr[i].Length;
 
      // Check if maximum length of
      // longest common prefix > M
      if (i != idx && M >= len) {
        bool found = true;
        // Traverse string arr[i]
        // and arr[j]
        for (int j = 0; j < len; j++) {
 
          // If current character of both
          // string does not match.
          if (arr[i][j] != arr[idx][j]) {
            found = false;
            break;
          }
        }
 
        // Print pairs having maximum length
        // of the longest common prefix
        if (found) {
          Console.WriteLine("(" + arr[i]+ ", " + arr[idx]+ ")");
          return;
        }
      }
    }
  }
 
  // Driver Code
  public static void Main()
  {
    List<string> arr = new List<string>() {"geeksforgeeks", "geeks", "geeksforcse" };
    int N = arr.Count;
    findMaxLenPair(arr, N);
  }
}
 
// THIS CODE IS CONTRIBUTED BY SURENDRA_GANGWAR.

Javascript

<script>
 
// Javascript program to implement
// the above approach
 
// Class of Trie
class TrieNode
{
    constructor()
    {
        this.child = Array(256);
    }
};
 
// Function to insert a string into Trie
function insertTrie(root, str)
{
     
    // Stores length of the string
    var M = str.length;
     
    // Traverse the string str
    for(var i = 0; i < M; i++) 
    {
         
        // If str[i] is not present
        // in current path of Trie
        if (root.child[str[i]] == null) 
        {
             
            // Create a new node
            // of Trie
            root.child[str[i]] = new TrieNode();
        }
         
        // Update root
        root = root.child[str[i]];
    }
}
 
// Function to find the maximum length of
// longest common prefix in Trie with str
function findStrLen(root, str)
{
     
    // Stores length of str
    var M = str.length;
     
    // Stores length of longest
    // common prefix in Trie with str
    var len = 0;
     
    // Traverse the string str
    for(var i = 0; i < M; i++)
    {
         
        // If str[i] is present in
        // the current path of Trie
        if (root.child[str[i]] != null)
        {
             
            // Update len
            len++;
             
            // Update root
            root = root.child[str[i]];
        }
        else
        {
            return len;
        }
    }
    return len;
}
 
// Function to print the pair having maximum
// length of the longest common prefix
function findMaxLenPair(arr, N)
{
     
    // Stores index of the string having
    // maximum length of longest common prefix
    var idx = -1;
     
    // Stores maximum length of longest
    // common prefix.
    var len = 0;
     
    // Create root node of Trie
    var root = new TrieNode();
     
    // Insert arr[0] into Trie
    insertTrie(root, arr[0]);
     
    // Traverse the array.
    for(var i = 1; i < N; i++) 
    {
         
        // Stores maximum length of longest
        // common prefix in Trie with arr[i]
        var temp = findStrLen(root, arr[i]);
         
        // If temp is greater than len
        if (temp > len) 
        {
             
            // Update len
            len = temp;
             
            // Update idx
            idx = i;
        }
        insertTrie(root, arr[i]);
    }
     
    // Traverse array arr[]
    for(var i = 0; i < N; i++) 
    {
         
        // Stores length of arr[i]
        var M = arr[i].length;
         
        // Check if maximum length of
        // longest common prefix > M
        if (i != idx && M >= len) 
        {
            var found = true;
             
            // Traverse string arr[i]
            // and arr[j]
            for(var j = 0; j < len; j++)
            {
                 
                // If current character of both
                // string does not match.
                if (arr[i][j] != arr[idx][j])
                {
                    found = false;
                    break;
                }
            }
             
            // Print pairs having maximum length
            // of the longest common prefix
            if (found) 
            {
                document.write("(" + arr[i] + 
                               ", " + arr[idx] + ")");
                return;
            }
        }
    }
}
 
// Driver Code
var arr = [ "geeksforgeeks", "geeks",
            "geeksforcse" ];
var N = arr.length;
 
findMaxLenPair(arr, N);
 
// This code is contributed by rrrtnx
 
</script>

Output:

(geeksforgeeks, geeksforcse)

Time Complexity: O(N * M), where M denotes the length of the longest string
Auxiliary Space: 0(N * 256)

Amazon Interview Experience for 6-Months SDE Internship

IshwarGupta

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Practice Tags :

Pair of strings having longest common prefix of maximum length in given array

C++

Java

Python3

Javascript

C#

C++

Java

Python3

C#

Javascript

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