feat: add damerau-levenshtein distance algorithm (#6706)

saahilmahato · web-flow · commit 50b1bcdc6776 · 2025-10-08T18:09:18.000+02:00
* feat: add damerau-levenshtein distance algorithm

* refactor: remove useless parentheses

* refactor: add class link to test
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/thealgorithms/dynamicprogramming/DamerauLevenshteinDistance.java b/src/main/java/com/thealgorithms/dynamicprogramming/DamerauLevenshteinDistance.java
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+package com.thealgorithms.dynamicprogramming;
+
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+/**
+ * Implementation of the full Damerau–Levenshtein distance algorithm.
+ *
+ * This algorithm calculates the minimum number of operations required
+ * to transform one string into another. Supported operations are:
+ * insertion, deletion, substitution, and transposition of adjacent characters.
+ *
+ * Unlike the restricted version (OSA), this implementation allows multiple
+ * edits on the same substring, computing the true edit distance.
+ *
+ * Time Complexity: O(n * m * max(n, m))
+ * Space Complexity: O(n * m)
+ */
+public final class DamerauLevenshteinDistance {
+
+    private DamerauLevenshteinDistance() {
+        // Utility class
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Computes the full Damerau–Levenshtein distance between two strings.
+     *
+     * @param s1 the first string
+     * @param s2 the second string
+     * @return the minimum edit distance between the two strings
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if either input string is null
+     */
+    public static int distance(String s1, String s2) {
+        validateInputs(s1, s2);
+
+        int n = s1.length();
+        int m = s2.length();
+
+        Map<Character, Integer> charLastPosition = buildCharacterMap(s1, s2);
+        int[][] dp = initializeTable(n, m);
+
+        fillTable(s1, s2, dp, charLastPosition);
+
+        return dp[n + 1][m + 1];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Validates that both input strings are not null.
+     *
+     * @param s1 the first string to validate
+     * @param s2 the second string to validate
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if either string is null
+     */
+    private static void validateInputs(String s1, String s2) {
+        if (s1 == null || s2 == null) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Input strings must not be null.");
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Builds a character map containing all unique characters from both strings.
+     * Each character is initialized with a position value of 0.
+     *
+     * This map is used to track the last occurrence position of each character
+     * during the distance computation, which is essential for handling transpositions.
+     *
+     * @param s1 the first string
+     * @param s2 the second string
+     * @return a map containing all unique characters from both strings, initialized to 0
+     */
+    private static Map<Character, Integer> buildCharacterMap(String s1, String s2) {
+        Map<Character, Integer> charMap = new HashMap<>();
+        for (char c : s1.toCharArray()) {
+            charMap.putIfAbsent(c, 0);
+        }
+        for (char c : s2.toCharArray()) {
+            charMap.putIfAbsent(c, 0);
+        }
+        return charMap;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Initializes the dynamic programming table for the algorithm.
+     *
+     * The table has dimensions (n+2) x (m+2) where n and m are the lengths
+     * of the input strings. The extra rows and columns are used to handle
+     * the transposition operation correctly.
+     *
+     * The first row and column are initialized with the maximum possible distance,
+     * while the second row and column represent the base case of transforming
+     * from an empty string.
+     *
+     * @param n the length of the first string
+     * @param m the length of the second string
+     * @return an initialized DP table ready for computation
+     */
+    private static int[][] initializeTable(int n, int m) {
+        int maxDist = n + m;
+        int[][] dp = new int[n + 2][m + 2];
+
+        dp[0][0] = maxDist;
+
+        for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++) {
+            dp[i + 1][0] = maxDist;
+            dp[i + 1][1] = i;
+        }
+
+        for (int j = 0; j <= m; j++) {
+            dp[0][j + 1] = maxDist;
+            dp[1][j + 1] = j;
+        }
+
+        return dp;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Fills the dynamic programming table by computing the minimum edit distance
+     * for each substring pair.
+     *
+     * This method implements the core algorithm logic, iterating through both strings
+     * and computing the minimum cost of transforming substrings. It considers all
+     * four operations: insertion, deletion, substitution, and transposition.
+     *
+     * The character position map is updated as we progress through the first string
+     * to enable efficient transposition cost calculation.
+     *
+     * @param s1 the first string
+     * @param s2 the second string
+     * @param dp the dynamic programming table to fill
+     * @param charLastPosition map tracking the last position of each character in s1
+     */
+    private static void fillTable(String s1, String s2, int[][] dp, Map<Character, Integer> charLastPosition) {
+        int n = s1.length();
+        int m = s2.length();
+
+        for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
+            int lastMatchCol = 0;
+
+            for (int j = 1; j <= m; j++) {
+                char char1 = s1.charAt(i - 1);
+                char char2 = s2.charAt(j - 1);
+
+                int lastMatchRow = charLastPosition.get(char2);
+                int cost = (char1 == char2) ? 0 : 1;
+
+                if (char1 == char2) {
+                    lastMatchCol = j;
+                }
+
+                dp[i + 1][j + 1] = computeMinimumCost(dp, i, j, lastMatchRow, lastMatchCol, cost);
+            }
+
+            charLastPosition.put(s1.charAt(i - 1), i);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Computes the minimum cost among all possible operations at the current position.
+     *
+     * This method evaluates four possible operations:
+     * 1. Substitution: replace character at position i with character at position j
+     * 2. Insertion: insert character from s2 at position j
+     * 3. Deletion: delete character from s1 at position i
+     * 4. Transposition: swap characters that have been seen before
+     *
+     * The transposition cost accounts for the gap between the current position
+     * and the last position where matching characters were found.
+     *
+     * @param dp the dynamic programming table
+     * @param i the current position in the first string (1-indexed in the DP table)
+     * @param j the current position in the second string (1-indexed in the DP table)
+     * @param lastMatchRow the row index where the current character of s2 last appeared in s1
+     * @param lastMatchCol the column index where the current character of s1 last matched in s2
+     * @param cost the substitution cost (0 if characters match, 1 otherwise)
+     * @return the minimum cost among all operations
+     */
+    private static int computeMinimumCost(int[][] dp, int i, int j, int lastMatchRow, int lastMatchCol, int cost) {
+        int substitution = dp[i][j] + cost;
+        int insertion = dp[i + 1][j] + 1;
+        int deletion = dp[i][j + 1] + 1;
+        int transposition = dp[lastMatchRow][lastMatchCol] + i - lastMatchRow - 1 + 1 + j - lastMatchCol - 1;
+
+        return Math.min(Math.min(substitution, insertion), Math.min(deletion, transposition));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/thealgorithms/dynamicprogramming/DamerauLevenshteinDistanceTest.java b/src/test/java/com/thealgorithms/dynamicprogramming/DamerauLevenshteinDistanceTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,194 @@
+package com.thealgorithms.dynamicprogramming;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for the {@code DamerauLevenshteinDistance} class.
+ * Tests cover edge cases, basic operations, and complex transposition scenarios.
+ */
+class DamerauLevenshteinDistanceTest {
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should throw exception for null first string")
+    void testNullFirstString() {
+        assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> { DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance(null, "test"); });
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should throw exception for null second string")
+    void testNullSecondString() {
+        assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> { DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("test", null); });
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should throw exception for both null strings")
+    void testBothNullStrings() {
+        assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> { DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance(null, null); });
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should return 0 for identical strings")
+    void testIdenticalStrings() {
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("", ""));
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("a", "a"));
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("abc", "abc"));
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("hello", "hello"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should return length when one string is empty")
+    void testEmptyStrings() {
+        assertEquals(3, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("", "abc"));
+        assertEquals(5, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("hello", ""));
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("", ""));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle single character insertions")
+    void testSingleInsertion() {
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("cat", "cats"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("ab", "abc"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("", "a"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle single character deletions")
+    void testSingleDeletion() {
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("cats", "cat"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("abc", "ab"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("a", ""));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle single character substitutions")
+    void testSingleSubstitution() {
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("cat", "bat"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("abc", "adc"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("x", "y"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle adjacent character transpositions")
+    void testAdjacentTransposition() {
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("ab", "ba"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("abc", "bac"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("hello", "ehllo"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should correctly compute distance for CA to ABC")
+    void testCAtoABC() {
+        // This is the critical test case that differentiates full DL from OSA
+        // Full DL: 2 (insert A at start, insert B in middle)
+        // OSA would give: 3
+        assertEquals(2, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("CA", "ABC"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle non-adjacent transpositions")
+    void testNonAdjacentTransposition() {
+        assertEquals(2, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("abc", "cba"));
+        assertEquals(3, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("abcd", "dcba"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle multiple operations")
+    void testMultipleOperations() {
+        assertEquals(3, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("kitten", "sitting"));
+        assertEquals(3, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("saturday", "sunday"));
+        assertEquals(5, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("intention", "execution"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle completely different strings")
+    void testCompletelyDifferentStrings() {
+        assertEquals(3, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("abc", "xyz"));
+        assertEquals(4, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("hello", "world"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle strings with repeated characters")
+    void testRepeatedCharacters() {
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("aaa", "aaa"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("aaa", "aab"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("aaa", "aba"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should be symmetric")
+    void testSymmetry() {
+        assertEquals(DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("abc", "def"), DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("def", "abc"));
+        assertEquals(DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("hello", "world"), DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("world", "hello"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle case sensitivity")
+    void testCaseSensitivity() {
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("Hello", "hello"));
+        assertEquals(5, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("HELLO", "hello"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle single character strings")
+    void testSingleCharacterStrings() {
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("a", "b"));
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("a", "a"));
+        assertEquals(2, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("a", "abc"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle long strings efficiently")
+    void testLongStrings() {
+        String s1 = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
+        String s2 = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance(s1, s2));
+
+        String s3 = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
+        String s4 = "zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba";
+        assertEquals(25, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance(s3, s4));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should satisfy triangle inequality")
+    void testTriangleInequality() {
+        // d(a,c) <= d(a,b) + d(b,c)
+        String a = "cat";
+        String b = "hat";
+        String c = "rat";
+
+        int ab = DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance(a, b);
+        int bc = DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance(b, c);
+        int ac = DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance(a, c);
+
+        assertTrue(ac <= ab + bc);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle special characters")
+    void testSpecialCharacters() {
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("hello!", "hello!"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("hello!", "hello?"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("a@b", "a#b"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle numeric strings")
+    void testNumericStrings() {
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("123", "124"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("123", "213"));
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("999", "999"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("Should handle unicode characters")
+    void testUnicodeCharacters() {
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("café", "café"));
+        assertEquals(1, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("café", "cafe"));
+        assertEquals(0, DamerauLevenshteinDistance.distance("你好", "你好"));
+    }
+}
