Space complexity is the most underestimated asset by programmers. One can barely see a Memory Limit Exceed (MLE) while submitting a solution. But, saving memory is the most important thing a programmer should take care about. If one needs to create an Application for a user, it should be made as memory efficient as one can.Â
Boolean arrays have been used as a container to solve different problems. This article focuses on discussing the alternatives to boolean arrays.
Integer Variable as a container
In general, the Integer variable has 4 bytes (C++ taken into consideration) resulting in having 32 boolean bits to represent a number. For example, to represent 10, the boolean bits can be written as:
int a = 10
In Memory-
00000000000000000000000000001010 (Binary of 10 in 32-bit integer)
This means one can use these bits as a boolean value inside a boolean array of size 32. A 64-bit integer can be used to increase the size if needed.
How to use Integer variable as a container?
Let’s discuss in detail how to use the Integer variable as a container.
The first step is to initialize the integer variable as 0, to get the boolean container of size 32 with all bits initially false.
Set a bit to true:
Set any bit to true for any desired location by using bitwise operators such as AND, NOT, OR, and SHIFT operators. For, example, to set a bit to true at position 7-
Use shift and bitwise OR operator to make the ith bit to 1 (true)
int a = 0;
a |= (1 << 7);
Here a will become : 00000000000000000000000010000000
                                               ↑
                                               0th bit
Step 1: First move 1 which is (..0001) in binary to 7 steps left to make it as (..10000000).
Step 2: Next, do bitwise or with the number.Â
Step 3: As 1 OR 0 = 1 and 1 OR 1 = 1, this will set the 7th bit to one without affecting other bits.
Set a bit to false:
For example, to reset a bit to false at position 7
Use shift and bitwise NOT and AND operator to make the ith bit to 0(false).
int a = 0;
a |= (1 << 7); // To set 7th bit
a &= ~(1 << 7); // To reset 7th bit
Step 1: First move our 1 which is (..0001) in binary to 7 steps left to make it as (..10000000).
Step 2: Invert the bits to look like (…1101111111).
Step 3: Perform AND operation with the number.
Step 4: As 1 AND 0 = 0, 0 AND 0 = 0, 1 AND 1 = 1, this will set the 7th bit to one without affecting other bits.
Get the value of ith bit:
For example, to get the value of the 7th bit-
Use AND operator to print.
int a = 0;
a |= (1<<7); // To set 7th bit
Print((a>>7)&1); Â // this will print 1(True)
a &= ~(1<<7); // To reset 7th bit
Print((a>>7)&1); // this will print 0(false)
Below is the implementation of the above approach:
C++
// C++ program to implement // the above approach#include<iostream>using namespace std;Â
// Driver codeint main(){  // This is an integer variable   // used as a container  int myBoolContainer = 0;      // 7th bit will be used for sample  int workingBit = 7;      // Setting ith bit  cout << "Setting " <<            workingBit << "th bit to 1\n";     myBoolContainer |= (1 << workingBit);     // Printing the ith bit  cout << "Value at " << workingBit <<           "th bit = " <<           ((myBoolContainer >> workingBit) & 1) <<          "\n\n";      // Resetting the ith bit  cout << "Resetting " << workingBit <<           "th bit to 0\n";  myBoolContainer &= ~(1 << 7);     // Printing the ith bit  cout << "Value at " << workingBit <<           "th bit = " <<           ((myBoolContainer >> workingBit) & 1); } |
Java
// Java program to implement// the above approachimport java.io.*;Â
// Driver codeclass GFG {    public static void main (String[] args)     {          // This will be the integer variable         // used as boolean container        int myBoolContainer = 0;            // 7th bit will be used for sample        int workingBit = 7; Â
        // Setting ith bit        System.out.println(        "Setting " + workingBit +         "th bit to 1");               myBoolContainer |= (1 << workingBit);Â
        // Printing the ith bit        System.out.println(        "Value at " + workingBit+"th bit = " +         ((myBoolContainer >> workingBit) & 1) +         "\n"); Â
        // Resetting the ith bit        System.out.println(        "Resetting " + workingBit +         "th bit to 0");                 myBoolContainer &= ~(1 << 7);Â
        // Printing the ith bit        System.out.println(        "Value at " + workingBit +         "th bit = " +         ((myBoolContainer >>workingBit) & 1));     }} |
Python
# Python program to implement # the above approach# This will be the integer variable # used as boolean containermyBoolContainer = 0; Â Â Â # 7th bit will be used as exampleworkingBit = 7; Â
# Setting ith bitprint("Setting " + str(workingBit) +Â Â Â Â Â Â "th bit to 1");myBoolContainer |= (1 << workingBit);Â
# Printing the ith bitprint("Value at " + str(workingBit) +Â Â Â Â Â Â "th bit = " + str((myBoolContainer >> Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â workingBit) & 1) + "\n");Â Â
# Resetting the ith bitprint("Resetting " + str(workingBit) +Â Â Â Â Â Â "th bit to 0");myBoolContainer &= ~(1 << 7);Â
# Printing the ith bitprint("Value at " + str(workingBit) +Â Â Â Â Â Â "th bit = " + str((myBoolContainer >> Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â workingBit) & 1)) |
C#
//C# code for the above approachusing System;public class GFG {Â
    static public void Main()    {Â
        // This will be the integer variable        // used as boolean container        int myBoolContainer = 0;Â
        // 7th bit will be used for sample        int workingBit = 7;Â
        // Setting ith bit        Console.WriteLine("Setting " + workingBit                          + "th bit to 1");Â
        myBoolContainer |= (1 << workingBit);Â
        // Printing the ith bit        Console.WriteLine(            "Value at " + workingBit + "th bit = "            + ((myBoolContainer >> workingBit) & 1) + "\n");Â
        // Resetting the ith bit        Console.WriteLine("Resetting " + workingBit                          + "th bit to 0");Â
        myBoolContainer &= ~(1 << 7);Â
        // Printing the ith bit        Console.WriteLine(            "Value at " + workingBit + "th bit = "            + ((myBoolContainer >> workingBit) & 1));    }}Â
// This code is contributed by Potta Lokesh |
Javascript
// Javascript program to implement // the above approach// This is an integer variable // used as a containervar myBoolContainer = 0; Â
// 7th bit will be used samplevar workingBit = 7; Â Â Â // Setting ith bitconsole.log("Setting " + workingBit + Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â "th bit to 1\n");myBoolContainer |= (1 << workingBit);Â Â Â //Printing the ith bitconsole.log("Value at " + workingBit + Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â "th bit = "+ ((myBoolContainer >> Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â workingBit) & 1) + "\n\n"); Â Â Â // Resetting the ith bitconsole.log("Resetting " + workingBit + Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â "th bit to 0\n");myBoolContainer &= ~(1 << 7);Â Â Â // Printing the ith bitconsole.log("Value at " + workingBit +Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â "th bit = " + ((myBoolContainer >> Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â workingBit) & 1)); |
Setting 7th bit to 1 Value at 7th bit = 1 Resetting 7th bit to 0 Value at 7th bit = 0
Solve Pangram Strings:
Let’s solve the problem of pangram strings using the above approach.
Approach:
It is known that English alphabets of lower case range from (a-z) are having a count of no more than 26. So, in this approach, a bool array of constant size can be used. This will optimize the space complexity of the code.
Below is the implementation of the pangram strings using a boolean array:
C++
// C++ program to implement// the above approach#include <iostream>using namespace std;Â
bool checkIsPanagram(string sentence){    // Initializing the container    int n = 0;       for(char &x:sentence)    {        // Checking that the char         // is Alphabetic        if(isalpha(x))                        // setting ith bit to 1            // if char is 'a' then this will             // set 0th bit to 1 and so on            n |= (1 << (tolower(x) - 'a'));               }       // decimal number for all ones in last     // 26 bits in binary is 67108863    return n == 67108863;}Â
// Driver codeint main() {Â Â string s = Â Â "Pack mY box witH fIve dozen liquor jugs";Â Â cout << checkIsPanagram(s);} |
Java
// Java program to implement // the above approachimport java.io.*;class Panagram{  public boolean checkIsPanagram(                 String sentence)  {      // Initializing the container      int n = 0;             int size = sentence.length();        for(int i = 0; i < size; i++)        {            // Storing current character             // in temp variable            char x = sentence.charAt(i);                        // checking that the char is Alphabetic            if(Character.isAlphabetic(x))            {                 // setting ith bit to 1                // if char is 'a' then this will                 // set 0th bit to 1 and so on                n |= (1 << (Character.toLowerCase(x) - 'a'));                }        }             // Decimal number for all ones in last         // 26 bits in binary is 67108863        return (n == 67108863);  }};Â
// Driver codeclass GFG {Â Â Â Â public static void main (String[] args) Â Â Â Â { Â Â Â Â Â Â String s = Â Â Â Â Â Â "Pack mY box witH fIve dozen liquor jugs";Â Â Â Â Â Â Panagram panagram = new Panagram();Â Â Â Â Â Â System.out.println(Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â panagram.checkIsPanagram(s));Â Â Â Â }} |
Python
# Python program to implement # the above approachdef isPanagram(sentence):       # Initializing the container    n = 0         for char in sentence:                   # Checking that the char         # is Alphabetic        if char.isalpha():                        # setting ith bit to 1            # if char is a then this will            # set 0th bit to 1 and so on            n |= (1 << (ord(char.lower()) -                        ord('a')))                       # Decimal number for all ones in     # last 26 bits in binary is 67108863    return n == 67108863Â
sentence ="Pack mY box witH fIve dozen liquor jugs"print(isPanagram(sentence)) |
C#
// C# program to implement // the above approachusing System;Â
class Panagram{  public bool checkIsPanagram(                 String sentence)  {           // Initializing the container      int n = 0;             int size = sentence.Length;        for(int i = 0; i < size; i++)        {                       // Storing current character             // in temp variable            char x = sentence[i];                        // checking that the char is Alphabetic            if(char.IsLetter(x))            {                                // setting ith bit to 1                // if char is 'a' then this will                 // set 0th bit to 1 and so on                n |= (1 << (char.ToLower(x) - 'a'));                }        }             // Decimal number for all ones in last         // 26 bits in binary is 67108863        return (n == 67108863);  }};Â
// Driver codepublic class GFG {Â Â Â Â public static void Main(String[] args) Â Â Â Â { Â Â Â Â Â Â String s = Â Â Â Â Â Â "Pack mY box witH fIve dozen liquor jugs";Â Â Â Â Â Â Panagram panagram = new Panagram();Â Â Â Â Â Â Console.WriteLine(Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â panagram.checkIsPanagram(s));Â Â Â Â }}Â
// This code is contributed by 29AjayKumar |
Javascript
<script>// javascript program to implement // the above approachfunction checkIsPanagram(sentence)  {         // Initializing the container      var n = 0;             var size = sentence.length;        for(var i = 0; i < size; i++)        {            // Storing current character             // in temp variable            var x = sentence[i];                        // checking that the char is Alphabetic            if(isAlphabetic(x))            {                 // setting ith bit to 1                // if char is 'a' then this will                 // set 0th bit to 1 and so on                n = n | (1 << (x.charCodeAt(0)- 'a'.charCodeAt(0)));                }        }             // Decimal number for all ones in last         // 26 bits in binary is 67108863        return (n == 67108863);  }function isAlphabetic(str){    return /^[a-zA-Z()]+$/.test(str);}Â
// Driver codevar s = "Pack mY box witH fIve dozen liquor jugs";document.write(checkIsPanagram(s));Â
// This code is contributed by 29AjayKumar </script> |
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