Leetcode #348: Design Tic-Tac-Toe
In this guide, we solve Leetcode #348 Design Tic-Tac-Toe 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
Assume the following rules are for the tic-tac-toe game on an n x n board between two players: A move is guaranteed to be valid and is placed on an empty block. Once a winning condition is reached, no more moves are allowed.
Quick Facts
- Difficulty: Medium
- Premium: Yes
- Tags: Design, Array, Hash Table, Matrix, Simulation
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
["TicTacToe", "move", "move", "move", "move", "move", "move", "move"]
[[3], [0, 0, 1], [0, 2, 2], [2, 2, 1], [1, 1, 2], [2, 0, 1], [1, 0, 2], [2, 1, 1]]
Output
[null, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1]
Explanation
TicTacToe ticTacToe = new TicTacToe(3);
Assume that player 1 is "X" and player 2 is "O" in the board.
ticTacToe.move(0, 0, 1); // return 0 (no one wins)
|X| | |
| | | | // Player 1 makes a move at (0, 0).
| | | |
ticTacToe.move(0, 2, 2); // return 0 (no one wins)
|X| |O|
| | | | // Player 2 makes a move at (0, 2).
| | | |
ticTacToe.move(2, 2, 1); // return 0 (no one wins)
|X| |O|
| | | | // Player 1 makes a move at (2, 2).
| | |X|
ticTacToe.move(1, 1, 2); // return 0 (no one wins)
|X| |O|
| |O| | // Player 2 makes a move at (1, 1).
| | |X|
ticTacToe.move(2, 0, 1); // return 0 (no one wins)
|X| |O|
| |O| | // Player 1 makes a move at (2, 0).
|X| |X|
ticTacToe.move(1, 0, 2); // return 0 (no one wins)
|X| |O|
|O|O| | // Player 2 makes a move at (1, 0).
|X| |X|
ticTacToe.move(2, 1, 1); // return 1 (player 1 wins)
|X| |O|
|O|O| | // Player 1 makes a move at (2, 1).
|X|X|X|
Python Solution
class TicTacToe:
def __init__(self, n: int):
self.n = n
self.cnt = [defaultdict(int), defaultdict(int)]
def move(self, row: int, col: int, player: int) -> int:
cur = self.cnt[player - 1]
n = self.n
cur[row] += 1
cur[n + col] += 1
if row == col:
cur[n << 1] += 1
if row + col == n - 1:
cur[n << 1 | 1] += 1
if any(cur[i] == n for i in (row, n + col, n << 1, n << 1 | 1)):
return player
return 0
# Your TicTacToe object will be instantiated and called as such:
# obj = TicTacToe(n)
# param_1 = obj.move(row,col,player)
Complexity
The time complexity is O(n). The space complexity is , where is the length of the side of the chessboard.
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.