Word Search
Explore how to implement backtracking to determine if a given word can be formed by sequentially adjacent letters in a grid. Understand the use of horizontal and vertical neighbors, constraints on cell reuse, and develop efficient solutions for word search challenges.
We'll cover the following...
Statement
Given an m x n grid of characters, board, and a string word, return TRUE if word exists in the grid.
The word can be formed by connecting letters of sequentially adjacent cells. The cells are considered sequentially adjacent when neighbors are either horizontally or vertically neighbors. Each cell can be used only once while forming the word.
Constraints:
mboard.lengthnboard[i].length, whereimm, nword.lengthboardandwordconsist of only lowercase and uppercase English letters.
Examples
Understand the problem
Let’s take a moment to make sure you've correctly understood the problem. The quiz below helps you check if you're solving the correct problem:
Word Search
Can we find the word in the given grid?
[['K', 'I', 'C', 'D', 'L', 'J', 'M', 'R']
['V', 'M', 'S', 'P', 'C', 'F', 'A', 'G']
['C', 'A', 'G', 'D', 'J', 'O', 'L', 'O']
['Q', 'Z', 'N', 'T', 'F', 'X', 'C', 'T']
['R', 'L', 'A', 'N', 'I', 'R', 'G', 'D']
['J', 'A', 'W', 'Y', 'M', 'O', 'U', 'A']
['Z', 'A', 'P', 'D', 'R', 'C', 'S', 'D']
['Y', 'V', 'A', 'F', 'P', 'L', 'Z', 'T']]
Yes
No
Figure it out!
We have a game for you to play. Rearrange the logical building blocks to develop a clearer understanding of how to solve this problem.
Try it yourself
Implement your solution in the following coding playground.
function wordSearch(grid, word){// Replace this placeholder return statement with your codereturn false}export {wordSearch}