Leetcode #748: Shortest Completing Word
In this guide, we solve Leetcode #748 Shortest Completing Word 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 a string licensePlate and an array of strings words, find the shortest completing word in words. A completing word is a word that contains all the letters in licensePlate.
Quick Facts
- Difficulty: Easy
- Premium: No
- Tags: Array, Hash Table, String
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: licensePlate = "1s3 PSt", words = ["step","steps","stripe","stepple"]
Output: "steps"
Explanation: licensePlate contains letters 's', 'p', 's' (ignoring case), and 't'.
"step" contains 't' and 'p', but only contains 1 's'.
"steps" contains 't', 'p', and both 's' characters.
"stripe" is missing an 's'.
"stepple" is missing an 's'.
Since "steps" is the only word containing all the letters, that is the answer.
Python Solution
class Solution:
def shortestCompletingWord(self, licensePlate: str, words: List[str]) -> str:
cnt = Counter(c.lower() for c in licensePlate if c.isalpha())
ans = None
for w in words:
if ans and len(w) >= len(ans):
continue
t = Counter(w)
if all(v <= t[c] for c, v in cnt.items()):
ans = w
return ans
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.