🔤 Valid Anagram – Python Solution

Hi All,

Today I solved a simple but important problem: Valid Anagram.

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📌 Problem Statement

Given two strings s and t, check whether t is an anagram of s.

👉 An anagram means:

• Both strings contain the same characters
• Same frequency of each character
• Order does not matter

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🔍 Examples

Example 1:

s = "anagram"
t = "nagaram"

Output:

True

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Example 2:

s = "rat"
t = "car"

Output:

False

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💡 Approach

🔹 Method 1: Sorting (Simple)

• Sort both strings
• Compare results

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💻 Python Code (Sorting)

def isAnagram(s, t):
    return sorted(s) == sorted(t)

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🔹 Method 2: Frequency Count (Optimal)

👉 Better approach using dictionary

• Count characters in both strings
• Compare frequencies

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💻 Python Code (Dictionary)

def isAnagram(s, t):
    if len(s) != len(t):
        return False

    count = {}

    for char in s:
        count[char] = count.get(char, 0) + 1

    for char in t:
        if char not in count:
            return False
        count[char] -= 1

    return all(value == 0 for value in count.values())

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🔍 Dry Run

For:

s = "rat"
t = "tar"

Steps:

• Count s → {'r':1, 'a':1, 't':1}
• Reduce using t → all become 0

Final Output:

True

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🖥️ Sample Output

Input: s = "anagram", t = "nagaram"
Output: True

Input: s = "rat", t = "car"
Output: False

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⚡ Complexity Analysis

Method	Time	Space
Sorting	O(n log n)	O(1)
Dictionary	O(n) ✅	O(1)

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🧠 Why this is important?

• Tests string manipulation
• Introduces frequency counting
• Common in interviews

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✅ Conclusion

This problem helped me understand:

• Character frequency counting
• Efficient string comparison
• Optimizing solutions

🚀 A must-know problem for beginners!

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