Add string permutations solution in Python with 2 algorithms

solutions/python/string-permutations.py

@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+"""
+This module presents two different solutions for the problem of generating the permutations of a sequence.
+"""
+
+from math import factorial
+import unittest
+
+
+def perm_recursive(S):
+    """
+    Return a list with all permutations of the iterable  passed as argument.
+    Uses the simple recursive solution. This Algorithm does not handle repeated elements well.
+    """
+
+    def expand_inserting(c, L):
+        return [L[0:i] + [c] + L[i:] for i in range(len(L) + 1)]
+
+    if not isinstance(S, list):
+        S = list(S)  # to handle strings
+    if len(S) == 0:
+        return []
+    elif len(S) == 1:
+        return [S]
+
+    c, L = S[0], S[1:]
+    res = []
+    for newL in perm_recursive(L):
+        res.extend(expand_inserting(c, newL))
+    return res
+
+
+def perm_generator(A):
+    """
+    Generates all permutations of elements of the iterable passed as argument.
+    Uses Non-recursive lexicographic order (Knuth's L-Algorithm).
+    Requires all A elements are comparable to each other (list has to be sortable).
+    The algorithm handles repeated elements gracefully.
+    Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permutation#Permutations_in_computing
+    """
+    n = len(A)
+    a = sorted(list(A))
+    ok = False if n == 0 else True
+
+    while ok:
+        yield a[:]
+        # Find the largest index k such that a[k] < a[k + 1]
+        k = next((j for j in range(n-2, -1, -1) if a[j] < a[j+1]), -1)
+        if k == -1:  # if no such index, is last permutation
+            break
+        # Find the largest index l greater than k such that a[k] < a[l]
+        l = next((j for j in range(n-1, k, -1) if a[k] < a[j]), -1)
+        # Swap values
+        a[k], a[l] = a[l], a[k]
+        # Reverse the sequence from a[k + 1] up to and including the final element a[n]
+        a[k+1:] = a[n-1:k:-1]
+
+
+class Test(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.perm_ABC = (('A', 'B', 'C'), ('B', 'A', 'C'), ('B', 'C', 'A'), ('A', 'C', 'B'), ('C', 'A', 'B'),
+                         ('C', 'B', 'A'))
+
+    def test_recursive1(self):
+        """ Permutations of list [A,B,C] correct """
+        A = ['A', 'B', 'C']
+        r = perm_recursive(A)
+        self.assertEqual(set(tuple([tuple(l) for l in r])), set(self.perm_ABC))
+        self.assertEqual(len(r), factorial(len(A)))
+
+    def test_recursive2(self):
+        """ Permutations of str "ABC" correct """
+        A = "ABC"
+        r = perm_recursive(A)
+        self.assertEqual(set(tuple([tuple(l) for l in r])), set(self.perm_ABC))
+        self.assertEqual(len(r), factorial(len(A)))
+
+    def test_recursive3(self):
+        """ Empty string produces empty list """
+        A = ""
+        r = perm_recursive(A)
+        self.assertEqual(r, [])
+
+    def test_recursive4(self):
+        """ A sigle letter produces only one permutation """
+        A = "A"
+        r = perm_recursive(A)
+        self.assertEqual(r, [['A']])
+
+    def test_recursive5(self):
+        """ Two repeated letter wrongly produce 2 permutations. Algorithm does not handle repeated elements! """
+        A = "AA"
+        r = perm_recursive(A)
+        self.assertEqual(r, [['A', 'A'], ['A', 'A']])
+
+    def test_generator1(self):
+        """ Generated permutations of list [A,B,C] correct """
+        A = ['A', 'B', 'C']
+        r = list(perm_generator(A))
+        self.assertEqual(set(tuple([tuple(l) for l in r])), set(self.perm_ABC))
+        self.assertEqual(len(r), factorial(len(A)))
+
+    def test_generator2(self):
+        """ Generated Permutations of str "ABC" correct """
+        A = "BAC"
+        r = list(perm_generator(A))
+        self.assertEqual(set(tuple([tuple(l) for l in r])), set(self.perm_ABC))
+        self.assertEqual(len(r), factorial(len(A)))
+
+    def test_generator3(self):
+        """ Two repeated letters generate only one permutation. Algorithm handles repeated elements well. """
+        A = "AA"
+        r = list(perm_generator(A))
+        self.assertEqual(r, [['A', 'A']])
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()