Leetcode #2085: Count Common Words With One Occurrence
In this guide, we solve Leetcode #2085 Count Common Words With One Occurrence in Python and focus on the core idea that makes the solution efficient.
You will see the intuition, the step-by-step method, and a clean Python implementation you can use in interviews.
Problem Statement
Given two string arrays words1 and words2, return the number of strings that appear exactly once in each of the two arrays. Example 1: Input: words1 = ["leetcode","is","amazing","as","is"], words2 = ["amazing","leetcode","is"] Output: 2 Explanation: - "leetcode" appears exactly once in each of the two arrays.
Quick Facts
- Difficulty: Easy
- Premium: No
- Tags: Array, Hash Table, String, Counting
Intuition
Fast membership checks and value lookups are the heart of this problem, which makes a hash map the natural choice.
By storing what we have already seen (or counts/indexes), we can answer the question in one pass without backtracking.
Approach
Scan the input once, using the map to detect when the condition is satisfied and to update state as you go.
This keeps the solution linear while remaining easy to explain in an interview setting.
Steps:
- Initialize a hash map for seen items or counts.
- Iterate through the input, querying/updating the map.
- Return the first valid result or the final computed value.
Example
Input: words1 = ["leetcode","is","amazing","as","is"], words2 = ["amazing","leetcode","is"]
Output: 2
Explanation:
- "leetcode" appears exactly once in each of the two arrays. We count this string.
- "amazing" appears exactly once in each of the two arrays. We count this string.
- "is" appears in each of the two arrays, but there are 2 occurrences of it in words1. We do not count this string.
- "as" appears once in words1, but does not appear in words2. We do not count this string.
Thus, there are 2 strings that appear exactly once in each of the two arrays.
Python Solution
class Solution:
def countWords(self, words1: List[str], words2: List[str]) -> int:
cnt1 = Counter(words1)
cnt2 = Counter(words2)
return sum(v == 1 and cnt2[w] == 1 for w, v in cnt1.items())
Complexity
The time complexity is , and the space complexity is . The space complexity is .
Edge Cases and Pitfalls
Watch for boundary values, empty inputs, and duplicate values where applicable. If the problem involves ordering or constraints, confirm the invariant is preserved at every step.
Summary
This Python solution focuses on the essential structure of the problem and keeps the implementation interview-friendly while meeting the constraints.