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Problem solution · C++

Remove Invalid Parentheses

Remove Invalid Parentheses: a C++ solution using depth-first search. Learn the idea, check the complexity, and read the full code, with credit to walkccc LeetCode Solutions.

Technique
Depth-first search
Source
walkccc LeetCode Solutions
Length
59 lines
Start with the idea.

Try the problem first. If you get stuck, read the approach below, then write your own solution. The full code is at the bottom.

Approach

Depth-first search

For Remove Invalid Parentheses, the implementation follows one branch at a time, making it suitable for components, trees, backtracking, or dependency exploration.

  1. Define the state carried into one recursive or stack frame.
  2. Mark or choose the current state before exploring children.
  3. Combine child results or undo the choice when the branch finishes.

Code notes

  • 59 lines of C++ from the credited upstream file 301.cpp.
  • The implementation visibly relies on sequence storage.
  • 3 loop blocks detected, together with recursive traversal.

Complexity

Count unique states for graph traversal; for backtracking, count the branching factor and maximum depth.

Check the problem constraints before deciding whether this complexity will pass.

Source

Code and credit

This code comes from walkccc LeetCode Solutions by P.-Y. Chen (walkccc) and is used under the MIT licence.

Open problem ↗Original source ↗
Full codeRemove Invalid Parentheses · C++C++
Use this to learn the idea, then write your own version.
class Solution { public:  vector<string> removeInvalidParentheses(string s) {    vector<string> ans;    const auto [l, r] = getLeftAndRightCounts(s);    dfs(s, 0, l, r, ans);    return ans;  }  private:  // Similar to 921. Minimum Add to Make Parentheses Valid  // Returns how many '(' and ')' need to be deleted.  pair<int, int> getLeftAndRightCounts(const string& s) {    int l = 0;    int r = 0;     for (const char c : s)      if (c == '(')        ++l;      else if (c == ')') {        if (l == 0)          ++r;        else          --l;      }     return {l, r};  }   void dfs(const string& s, int start, int l, int r, vector<string>& ans) {    if (l == 0 && r == 0 && isValid(s)) {      ans.push_back(s);      return;    }     for (int i = start; i < s.length(); ++i) {      if (i > start && s[i] == s[i - 1])        continue;      if (l > 0 && s[i] == '(')  // Delete s[i].        dfs(s.substr(0, i) + s.substr(i + 1), i, l - 1, r, ans);      if (r > 0 && s[i] == ')')  // Delete s[i].        dfs(s.substr(0, i) + s.substr(i + 1), i, l, r - 1, ans);    }  }   bool isValid(const string& s) {    int opened = 0;  // the number of '(' - # of ')'    for (const char c : s) {      if (c == '(')        ++opened;      else if (c == ')')        --opened;      if (opened < 0)        return false;    }    return true;  // opened == 0  }};

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