385.md

385. Mini Parser

Given a nested list of integers represented as a string, implement a parser to deserialize it.

Each element is either an integer, or a list -- whose elements may also be integers or other lists.

Note: You may assume that the string is well-formed:

String is non-empty.
String does not contain white spaces.
String contains only digits 0-9, [, - ,, ].
Example 1:

Given s = "324",

You should return a NestedInteger object which contains a single integer 324.
Example 2:

Given s = "[123,[456,[789]]]",

Return a NestedInteger object containing a nested list with 2 elements:

1. An integer containing value 123.
2. A nested list containing two elements:
    i.  An integer containing value 456.
    ii. A nested list with one element:
         a. An integer containing value 789.

my thoughts:

1. recursion.

my solution:

**********  
# """
# This is the interface that allows for creating nested lists.
# You should not implement it, or speculate about its implementation
# """
#class NestedInteger:
#    def __init__(self, value=None):
#        """
#        If value is not specified, initializes an empty list.
#        Otherwise initializes a single integer equal to value.
#        """
#
#    def isInteger(self):
#        """
#        @return True if this NestedInteger holds a single integer, rather than a nested list.
#        :rtype bool
#        """
#
#    def add(self, elem):
#        """
#        Set this NestedInteger to hold a nested list and adds a nested integer elem to it.
#        :rtype void
#        """
#
#    def setInteger(self, value):
#        """
#        Set this NestedInteger to hold a single integer equal to value.
#        :rtype void
#        """
#
#    def getInteger(self):
#        """
#        @return the single integer that this NestedInteger holds, if it holds a single integer
#        Return None if this NestedInteger holds a nested list
#        :rtype int
#        """
#
#    def getList(self):
#        """
#        @return the nested list that this NestedInteger holds, if it holds a nested list
#        Return None if this NestedInteger holds a single integer
#        :rtype List[NestedInteger]
#        """

class Solution:
    def deserialize(self, s):
        """
        :type s: str
        :rtype: NestedInteger
        """
        if not s:
            return NestedInteger()
        if s[0] != '[':
            return NestedInteger(int(s))
        ls = []
        count = 0
        i = j = 1
        while j < len(s):
            if s[j] == '[':
                count += 1
                j += 1
                continue
            if s[j] == ']':
                count -= 1
                j += 1
                continue
            if s[j] == ',' and count == 0:
                ls.append(s[i:j])
                j += 1
                i = j
                continue
            j += 1
        if i != j - 1:
            ls.append(s[i:j - 1])
        #print(ls)
        res = NestedInteger()
        for e in ls:
            res.add(self.deserialize(e))
        return res

my comments:

from other ppl's solution:

1. This approach will just iterate through every char in the string (no recursion).

If encounters ‘[’, push current NestedInteger to stack and start a new one.
If encounters ‘]’, end current NestedInteger and pop a NestedInteger from stack to continue.
If encounters ‘,’, append a new number to curr NestedInteger, if this comma is not right after a brackets.
Update index l and r, where l shall point to the start of a integer substring, while r shall points to the end+1 of substring.
Java Code:

public NestedInteger deserialize(String s) {
    if (s.isEmpty())
        return null;
    if (s.charAt(0) != '[') // ERROR: special case
        return new NestedInteger(Integer.valueOf(s));
        
    Stack<NestedInteger> stack = new Stack<>();
    NestedInteger curr = null;
    int l = 0; // l shall point to the start of a number substring; 
               // r shall point to the end+1 of a number substring
    for (int r = 0; r < s.length(); r++) {
        char ch = s.charAt(r);
        if (ch == '[') {
            if (curr != null) {
                stack.push(curr);
            }
            curr = new NestedInteger();
            l = r+1;
        } else if (ch == ']') {
            String num = s.substring(l, r);
            if (!num.isEmpty())
                curr.add(new NestedInteger(Integer.valueOf(num)));
            if (!stack.isEmpty()) {
                NestedInteger pop = stack.pop();
                pop.add(curr);
                curr = pop;
            }
            l = r+1;
        } else if (ch == ',') {
            if (s.charAt(r-1) != ']') {
                String num = s.substring(l, r);
                curr.add(new NestedInteger(Integer.valueOf(num)));
            }
            l = r+1;
        }
    }
    
    return curr;
}