Solution: Longest Happy String
Explore how to construct the longest happy string with characters 'a', 'b', and 'c' while preventing three consecutive identical letters. Understand using a max heap to prioritize character frequency, manage constraints dynamically, and efficiently build the string by applying the heaps pattern. This lesson helps you implement the solution with O(k) time complexity, where k is the total allowed characters, and prepares you to handle similar interview problems effectively.
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Statement
A string is considered happy if it meets the following conditions:
It comprises only the characters
'a','b', and'c'.It does not contain the substrings
"aaa","bbb", or"ccc".The total occurrences of:
The character
'a'does not exceeda.The character
'b'does not exceedb.The character
'c'does not exceedc.
You are given three integers, a, b, and c, representing the maximum allowable occurrences of 'a', 'b', and 'c', respectively. Your task is to return the longest possible happy string. If there are multiple valid longest happy strings, return any one of them. If no such string can be formed, return an empty string "".
Note: A substring is a contiguous sequence of characters within a string.
Constraints:
a,b,c...