Is Print Words Vertically easy or hard?

Print Words Vertically is rated Medium difficulty on LeetCode. The algorithm itself is simple, but handling missing characters, padding spaces, and trimming trailing spaces correctly can cause edge case mistakes.

Print Words Vertically Python or Java solution?

Python and Java implementations typically follow the column-wise iteration approach. Python uses lists and string joins for clean construction, while Java often uses StringBuilder to append characters efficiently during column traversal.

How to solve Print Words Vertically in O(n * m)?

Split the input sentence into words and compute the longest word length. For each column index from 0 to max length - 1, iterate through all words and append the character if it exists or a space otherwise. Remove trailing spaces from the constructed string before adding it to the result list.

What is the best approach for Print Words Vertically?

The column-wise iteration approach is the most practical solution. Split the sentence into words, find the maximum word length, then iterate column by column and collect characters from each word. This produces vertical strings directly while trimming trailing spaces. Time complexity is O(n * m) where n is the number of words and m is the maximum word length.

What data structure is used in Print Words Vertically?

The solution mainly uses arrays or lists to store words after splitting the input string. Some implementations also simulate a 2D matrix when using the matrix transposition approach. String builders or mutable strings are often used to efficiently construct the vertical outputs.

What is the time complexity of Print Words Vertically?

The time complexity is O(n * m). Each column up to the maximum word length is processed, and for every column you iterate through all words. Space complexity is also O(n * m) due to storing the output strings.

Is Print Words Vertically asked at Google, Amazon, or Meta?

String formatting and simulation problems like Print Words Vertically appear in coding interviews at large tech companies including Amazon and Google. They test attention to detail, handling uneven string lengths, and correct iteration logic.

Description Hints 1 Solution Video 14:51

1324. Print Words Vertically

Medium68.1% acceptance2 companies

Given a string s. Return all the words vertically in the same order in which they appear in s.
Words are returned as a list of strings, complete with spaces when is necessary. (Trailing spaces are not allowed).
Each word would be put on only one column and that in one column there will be only one word.

Example 1:

Input: s = "HOW ARE YOU"
Output: ["HAY","ORO","WEU"]
Explanation: Each word is printed vertically. 
 "HAY"
 "ORO"
 "WEU"

Example 2:

Input: s = "TO BE OR NOT TO BE"
Output: ["TBONTB","OEROOE","   T"]
Explanation: Trailing spaces is not allowed. 
"TBONTB"
"OEROOE"
"   T"

Example 3:

Input: s = "CONTEST IS COMING"
Output: ["CIC","OSO","N M","T I","E N","S G","T"]

Constraints:

1 <= s.length <= 200
s contains only upper case English letters.
It's guaranteed that there is only one space between 2 words.

Asked at 2 companies

Guidewire Microsoft

Topics

Hints open one at a time

Hint 1

Use the maximum length of words to determine the length of the returned answer. However, don't forget to remove trailing spaces.

14:51

Still stuck?Read 3 approaches, or watch a walkthrough.

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1class Solution:
2    def printVertically(self, s: str) -> List[str]:
3        

Starter codePython 3Spaces: 4

Examples

Case 1Case 2Case 3

Input

"HOW ARE YOU"

Input

"TO BE OR NOT TO BE"

Input

"CONTEST IS COMING"

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