26. Word Break

The problem can be found at the following link: Question Link

Problem Description

You are given a string s and a list dictionary[] of words. Your task is to determine whether the string s can be formed by concatenating one or more words from the dictionary[].

Note: From dictionary[], any word can be taken any number of times and in any order.

Examples

Example 1:

Input:

s = "ilike"
dictionary[] = ["i", "like", "gfg"]

Output:

true

Explanation:

The given string s can be broken down as "i like" using words from the dictionary.

Example 2:

Input:

s = "ilikegfg"
dictionary[] = ["i", "like", "man", "india", "gfg"]

Output:

true

Explanation:

The given string s can be broken down as "i like gfg" using words from the dictionary.

Example 3:

Input:

s = "ilikemangoes"
dictionary[] = ["i", "like", "man", "india", "gfg"]

Output:

false

Explanation:

The given string s cannot be formed using the dictionary words.

Constraints:

• $( 1 \leq |s| \leq 3000 )$

• $( 1 \leq |dictionary| \leq 1000 )$

• $( 1 \leq |dictionary[i]| \leq 100 )$

My Approach

Dynamic Programming

Algorithm Steps:

1. Use a boolean DP vector dp of size n+1 where dp[i] indicates if the substring s[0...i-1] can be segmented.

2. Insert dictionary words into an unordered set for O(1) lookups.

3. Iterate through the string and check all possible substrings using the dictionary.

4. If a valid word is found and its prefix was segmentable, mark dp[i+j] as true.

5. Return dp[n].

Time and Auxiliary Space Complexity

• Expected Time Complexity: $( O(n \times m) )$, as each substring is checked in the dictionary.

• Expected Auxiliary Space Complexity: $( O(n) )$, as we use a DP array of size n+1.

Code (C++)

class Solution {
public:
    bool wordBreak(string s, vector<string>& d) {
        unordered_set<string> u(d.begin(), d.end());
        int n = s.size(), m = 0;
        for(auto &w : d) m = max(m, (int)w.size());
        vector<bool> dp(n + 1);
        dp[0] = 1;
        for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
            if(!dp[i]) continue;
            for(int j = 1; j <= m && i + j <= n; j++)
                if(u.count(s.substr(i, j))) dp[i + j] = 1;
        }
        return dp[n];
    }
};

⚡ Alternative Approaches

1️⃣ Dynamic Programming (Optimized Iterative DP)

Algorithm Steps:

1. Use a boolean DP vector dp of size n+1 where dp[i] indicates if the substring s[0...i-1] can be segmented.

2. Insert dictionary words into an unordered set for O(1) lookups.

3. Iterate through the string and check all possible substrings using the dictionary.

4. If a valid word is found and its prefix was segmentable, mark dp[i+j] as true.

5. Return dp[n].

class Solution {
public:
    bool wordBreak(string s, vector<string>& wordDict) {
        unordered_set<string> dict(wordDict.begin(), wordDict.end());
        int n = s.size(), maxLen = 0;
        for (auto &w : wordDict) maxLen = max(maxLen, (int)w.size());

        vector<bool> dp(n + 1, false);
        dp[0] = true;

        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
            if (!dp[i]) continue;
            for (int j = 1; j <= maxLen && i + j <= n; j++) {
                if (dict.count(s.substr(i, j))) dp[i + j] = true;
            }
        }
        return dp[n];
    }
};

✅ Time Complexity: O(n × m) ✅ Space Complexity: O(n)

2️⃣ Trie-Based Approach with DFS and DP

Algorithm Steps:

1. Build a Trie from the dictionary words.

2. Use a DP vector where dp[i] is true if s[i...n-1] can be segmented.

3. Start from the end of the string, traverse the Trie, and mark segmentable indexes.

4. Return dp[0].

struct TrieNode {
    bool isEnd;
    unordered_map<char, TrieNode*> children;
    TrieNode() : isEnd(false) {}
};

class Trie {
public:
    TrieNode* root;
    Trie() { root = new TrieNode(); }
    void insert(const string &word) {
        TrieNode* node = root;
        for(char c : word) {
            if(!node->children.count(c))
                node->children[c] = new TrieNode();
            node = node->children[c];
        }
        node->isEnd = true;
    }
};

class Solution {
public:
    bool wordBreak(string s, vector<string>& d) {
        Trie trie;
        for(auto &w: d) trie.insert(w);
        int n = s.size();
        vector<bool> dp(n + 1, false);
        dp[n] = true;
        for(int i = n - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
            TrieNode* node = trie.root;
            for(int j = i; j < n; j++){
                char c = s[j];
                if(!node->children.count(c)) break;
                node = node->children[c];
                if(node->isEnd && dp[j+1]){
                    dp[i] = true;
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
        return dp[0];
    }
};

✅ Time Complexity: O(n × m), where m is the maximum word length ✅ Space Complexity: O(n + total characters in dictionary)

Comparison of Approaches

Approach	⏱️ Time Complexity	🗂️ Space Complexity	✅ Pros	⚠️ Cons
Dynamic Programming (Optimized)	🟢 O(n × m)	🟢 O(n)	Efficient and easy to implement	Still requires full DP array
Trie-Based Approach	🟢 O(n × m)	🟡 O(n + dictionary)	Faster lookups, avoids substrings	More complex implementation

✅ Best Choice?

• If you want best efficiency: Use DP Optimized approach.

• If you prefer Trie-based lookup: Use Trie + DP.

Code (Java)

class Solution {
    public boolean wordBreak(String s, String[] d) {
        Set<String> set = new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList(d));
        int n = s.length(), m = 0;
        for (String w : d) m = Math.max(m, w.length());
        boolean[] dp = new boolean[n + 1];
        dp[0] = true;
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
            if (!dp[i]) continue;
            for (int j = 1; j <= m && i + j <= n; j++)
                if (set.contains(s.substring(i, i + j))) dp[i + j] = true;
        }
        return dp[n];
    }
}

Code (Python)

class Solution:
    def wordBreak(self, s, dictionary):
        d = set(dictionary)
        m = max((len(w) for w in dictionary), default=0)
        n = len(s)
        dp = [False] * (n + 1)
        dp[0] = True
        for i in range(n):
            if not dp[i]:
                continue
            for j in range(1, m + 1):
                if i + j <= n and s[i:i + j] in d:
                    dp[i + j] = True
        return dp[n]

Contribution and Support:

For discussions, questions, or doubts related to this solution, feel free to connect on LinkedIn: Any Questions. Let’s make this learning journey more collaborative!

⭐ If you find this helpful, please give this repository a star! ⭐

---

📍Visitor Count