this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2024
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Advent Of Code
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Advent of Code is an annual Advent calendar of small programming puzzles for a variety of skill sets and skill levels that can be solved in any programming language you like.
AoC 2024
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console.log('Hello World')
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Python
Approach: Recursive memoized backtracking with a Trie
I get to use one of my favorite data structures here, a Trie! It helps us figure out whether a prefix of the design is a valid pattern in linear time.
I use backtracking to choose potential component patterns (using the Trie), kicking off matching the rest of the design down the stack. We can continue matching longer patterns immediately after the recursion stack unwinds.
In addition, I use global memoization to keep track of the feasibility (part 1) or the number of combinations (part 2) for designs and sub-designs. This way, work done for earlier designs can help speed up later ones too.
I ended up combining part 1 and 2 solutions into a single function because part 1 is a simpler variant of part 2 where we count all designs with the number of possible pattern combinations > 0.
Reading Input
Trie Implementation
Solution