Unraveling Uniqueness and Anagram Mysteries with JavaScript Sets

Lesson 3

Lesson Introduction

Welcome to our focused exploration of JavaScript's Set and its remarkable applications in solving algorithmic challenges. In this lesson, "Unraveling Uniqueness and Anagram Mysteries with JavaScript Sets", we'll explore how this powerful data structure can be used to approach and solve certain types of problems commonly encountered in technical interviews.

Problem 1: Unique Echo

Picture this: you're given a vast list of words, and you must identify the final word that stands proudly solitary — the last word that is not repeated. Imagine sorting through a database of unique identifiers and finding one identifier towards the end of the list that is unlike any others.

Problem 1: Naive Approach

The straightforward approach would be to examine each word in reverse, comparing it to every other word for uniqueness. This brute-force method would result in poor time complexity, $O(n^2)$ , which is less than ideal for large datasets.

Problem 1: Efficient Approach

We can use two Set instances: wordsSet to maintain unique words and duplicatesSet to keep track of duplicate words. By the end, we can remove all duplicated words from wordsSet to achieve our goal. Here is how to use Set to solve the problem:

Create a Set instance to store unique words:

JavaScript
1let wordsSet = new Set();

Initialize another Set to monitor duplicates:

JavaScript
1let duplicatesSet = new Set();

Iterate the word array, filling wordsSet and duplicatesSet:

JavaScript
1for (let word of words) {
2    if (wordsSet.has(word)) {
3        duplicatesSet.add(word);
4    } else {
5        wordsSet.add(word);
6    }
7}

Use a loop to remove all duplicated words from wordsSet:

JavaScript
1duplicatesSet.forEach(word => wordsSet.delete(word));

Now, wordsSet only contains unique words. Find the last unique word by iterating through the original word list from the end:

JavaScript
1let lastUniqueWord = "";
2for(let i = words.length - 1; i >= 0; i--){
3    if(wordsSet.has(words[i])){
4        lastUniqueWord = words[i];
5        break;
6    }
7}

And finally, return the last unique word:

JavaScript
1return lastUniqueWord;

This efficient approach, with a time complexity closer to $O(n)$ , is far superior to the naive method and showcases your proficiency at solving algorithmic problems with JavaScript's Set.

Problem 2: Anagram Matcher

Now, imagine a different scenario in which you have two arrays of strings, and your task is to find all the words from the first array that have an anagram in the second array.

Problem 2: Efficient Approach

We'll create a unique signature for each word by sorting its characters and then compare these signatures for matches. We'll use Set to store signatures for efficient access.

Problem 2: Solution Building

Let's break down the anagram matcher:

Construct a function to create sorted character signatures from the input string:

JavaScript
1function sortCharacters(input) {
2    return [...input].sort().join('');
3}

Store these sorted characters from array2 in a Set for fast lookup:

JavaScript
1let sortedWordsInArray2 = new Set();
2array2.forEach(word => sortedWordsInArray2.add(sortCharacters(word)));

For each word in array1, check for its sorted signature in the Set and track the found anagrams:

JavaScript
1let result = [];
2for (let word of array1) {
3    let sortedWord = sortCharacters(word);
4    if (sortedWordsInArray2.has(sortedWord)) {
5        result.push(word);
6        anagramsMatched.add(word);
7    }
8}

The Array result stores the matches, ensuring that we return anagrams.

Our final step is to return the list of anagrams found:

JavaScript
1return result;

By utilizing Sets in this manner, we achieve efficient anagram checking with reduced complexity, considering both the $O(m\log m)$ character sorting for each word and the $O(n)$ comparison for $n$ words.

Lesson Summary

In this lesson, we have utilized JavaScript's Set to improve the efficiency of solving the "Unique Echo" and "Anagram Matcher" problems. These strategies help us manage complexity by leveraging the constant-time performance of Set operations. This steers us away from less efficient methods and closer to the standards expected in technical interviews.

As we progress, you'll encounter hands-on practice problems, which will test your ability to apply these concepts. Through nuanced algorithmic practice with Sets, you'll refine your skills and deepen your understanding of their computational advantages.

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