Written by

Senior Cloud Architect at InterSystems
Discussion Eduard Lebedyuk · Jul 28, 2023

Code Golf: Parenthesis

Our previous code golf ended with an overwhelming win, so now it's time for another one. Parenthesis Hell is a Lisp-like esoteric programming language(esolang). As a Lisp-like language, the code consists only of nested matched pairs of opened and closed parenthesis. Your task is to write a method that receives a string of parenthesis and returns 1 if the order of the parenthesis is valid. For example, the string of parenthesis (())() is valid because it contains a matched pair of opened and closed parenthesis at each position. The string ()((()))) is not valid because it contains one unmatched parenthesis.

Input

"(()()())" 

Output

1

Note

Rules

  1. The signature of the contest entry MUST be:

    Class codeGolf.ParenthesisHell
    {
    
    ClassMethod IsValid(s As %String) As %Boolean
    {
        // Your solution here
    }
    
    }
    
  2. It is forbidden to modify class/signature, including but not limited to:

    • Adding inheritance
    • Setting default argument values
    • Adding class elements (Parameters, Methods, Includes, etc).
  3. It is forbidden to refer to non-system code from your entry. For example, this is not a valid entry:

    ClassMethod Build(f As %Integer)
    {
      W ##class(myPackage.myClass).test(a)
    }
    
  4. The use of $ZWPACK and $ZWBPACK is also discouraged.

  5. You can use this test case:

    Class codeGolf.unittests.ParenthesisHell Extends %UnitTest.TestCase
    {
    
    Method TestValid()
    {
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("()"), $$$YES)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("(()())"), $$$YES)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("(((())))"), $$$YES)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("()(())((()))(())()"), $$$YES)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("(]{)"), $$$YES)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("(()()(()()(()()()()((()()(()(()((()((()()()((()((()()()((()((((()()(()()()()()()(((()(((()((()((((()(((()()(()()((()((()()()((()()(()()()()(()()()()(()()()()(()(())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))"), $$$YES)
    }
    
    Method TestInValid()
    {
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("(]"), $$$NO)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("()(()(()))(()()"), $$$NO)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid(")("), $$$NO)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("()()("), $$$NO)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("((())"), $$$NO)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("())(()"), $$$NO)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid(")()"), $$$NO)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid(")"), $$$NO)
        Do $$$AssertEquals(##class(codeGolf.ParenthesisHell).IsValid("(()()(()()(()()()()((()()(()(()((()((()()()((()((()()()((()((((()()(()()()()()()(((()(((()((()((((()(((()()(()()((()((()()()((()()(()()()()(()()()()(()()()()(()(()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))"), $$$NO)
    }
    }
    

Comments

Dmitry Maslennikov · Jul 28, 2023

Python

ClassMethod IsValid(wAs%String) As%Boolean [ Language = python ]
{
import re;p=r'\([^()]*\)'while re.search(p,w):w=re.sub(p,'',w)
return len(w)==0
}
0
John Murray  Jul 28, 2023 to Dmitry Maslennikov

I'd argue this breaks rule #2 by switching language (it says "including but not limited to").

0
Dmitry Maslennikov  Jul 28, 2023 to John Murray

I just offer an alternative, how to make it with Python

0
Vitaliy Serdtsev  Aug 3, 2023 to Dmitry Maslennikov

You can make it even easier:

<FONT COLOR="#000080">ClassMethod </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">IsValid(</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff00ff">s </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000080">As %String</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">) </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000080">As %Boolean </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">[ </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000080">Language </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">= python ]
{
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#800080">import</FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000ff"> regex</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">;</FONT><FONT COLOR="#800080">return</FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000ff"> regex</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">.</FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000ff">match</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">(</FONT><FONT COLOR="#008000">"^((?>[^()]|((?1)))*)$"</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">,</FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000ff">s</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">)</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff00ff"> is not None
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">}</FONT>

Unfortunately, RegExp ICU does not support recursive patterns, otherwise it would be possible to write

q $match(s,"^((?>[^()]|\((?1)\))*)$")
0
Dmitry Maslennikov  Aug 3, 2023 to Vitaliy Serdtsev

Yeah, this module regexp, supports recursive, but it's not out of the box solution, and requires to be installed first, unfortunately

0
Stuart Strickland · Jul 28, 2023

Class codeGolf.ParenthesisHell { ClassMethod IsValid(s As %String) As %Boolean

{

f{s t=s,s=$replace(s,"()","") ret:t=s s=""}

}

0
Alex Woodhead · Jul 28, 2023
ClassMethod IsValid(As %String) As %Boolean{    // Floats around them no good characters
    s=$ZSTRIP(s,"*E","","()")
    // Erupts Combination jabs "(" followed by ")"
    // Relentless follow up until stringy looks unbalanced
    {q:s'[("()") s=$Replace(s,"()","")}
    // Swings for the knock out
    s=""}
0
Marcel den Ouden  Jul 28, 2023 to Alex Woodhead

Looks a bit like mine :) 

ClassMethod IsValid(sAs%String) As%Boolean
{
    f i=1:1:2E6 {
      ss=$REPLACE($ZSTRIP(s,"*E",,"()"),"()","")
    }
    qs=""
}

Since length was more important than speed I put the $ZSTRIP in the loop, and make it run 2M times (3.6M MAXLEN, that should be enough 😂

Sorry I meant to post this under the solution of @Alex Woodhead 

0
Julius Kavay · Jul 28, 2023

OK, I start with 47 chars... unfortunately, I have to add 20 chars more for that (stupid) extra requirement of ignoring characters like {, [, <, etc. therefore end up with 67 chars

ClassMethod IsHalfValid(x)
{
1s z=x,x=$replace(x,"()","") g 1:x'=z qx=""
}

ClassMethod IsFullValid(x)
{
1s z=x,x=$replace($zstrip(x,"*e",,"()"),"()","") g 1:x'=z qx=""
}

Speed was'n asked...

0
Julius Kavay  Jul 28, 2023 to Julius Kavay

OK, one can short down those 20 bytes into 17 and we end up with 64 bytes.

ClassMethod IsValid(x)
{
1s z=x,x=$replace($tr(x,$tr(x,"()")),"()","") g 1:x'=z qx=""
}

Again, speed wasn't asked

0
Stuart Strickland  Jul 28, 2023 to Julius Kavay

61 bytes. Could an AI machine ever beat a human at code golf? Don't they just use brute force?

ClassMethod IsValid(x)
{
 f{z=x,x=$replace($tr(x,$tr(x,"()")),"()",9) ret:x=x=""}
}
 

0
Julius Kavay  Jul 28, 2023 to Stuart Strickland

It seems, that will be hard to underbid...  Congratulations!

0
Vitaliy Serdtsev  Aug 1, 2023 to Stuart Strickland

It's strange, according to approved method of calculating the length of the solution, your code shows a length of 62, not 61. Have you measured the length of your solution using this method?

0
Stuart Strickland  Aug 1, 2023 to Vitaliy Serdtsev

You are correct. implementation.size sees $c(13,10) as the end of line character. I counted manually and added 1, not 2.

0
Timo Lindenschmid · Aug 1, 2023

most of the solutions don't cater for the ")(" case being not valid

here is mine size 92

ClassMethod IsValid(sAs%String) As%Boolean
{
 sr=1 f {s c=$e(s,$i(i)) q:c=""  d:c="("$i(r)  d:c=")"$i(r,-1) q:r<1} ret $s(r=1:1,1:0)
}
0
Vitaliy Serdtsev · Aug 1, 2023
 

size = 61

ClassMethod IsValid(As %StringAs %Boolean
{
 +##class(%iFind.Utils).TestSearchString($$$URLENCODE(s))
}
0
Timo Lindenschmid  Aug 1, 2023 to Vitaliy Serdtsev

your 2nd solution shows )((()) as valid which is not true

0
Vitaliy Serdtsev  Aug 1, 2023 to Timo Lindenschmid

Thanks for the comment. I tested only on the provided data. The second option requires improvement.

 

size = 72

ClassMethod IsValid(As %StringAs %Boolean
{
 q $l(s,"(")=$l(s,")")&($f(s,"(")<$f(s,")"))&($f(s,")(")-$f(s,"()")<2)
}
 

size = 69

ClassMethod IsValid(As %StringAs %Boolean
{
c=$i(c,$case($e(s,$i(i)),"(":1,")":-1,"":-2,:0)) q:c<0 c=-2 1
}
0
Stuart Strickland  Aug 2, 2023 to Vitaliy Serdtsev

//57?

ClassMethod IsValid(s As %String) As %Boolean {

 q +$$zTestSearchString^%iFind.Utils.1($$$URLENCODE(s))

}

0
Stuart Strickland  Aug 3, 2023 to Vitaliy Serdtsev

That article is an interesting read for anyone who has written code that goes directly to the generated INT code. I will need to re-think some of my older code that finds lines of code from $ZE and then displays and diagnoses the source of errors based on the variable names it finds there. I might also have to start using a mainstream debugger.

0
Lorenzo Scalese · Aug 1, 2023

Another solution, 82 bytes:

/// ( -> -0.5/// ) -> 0.5ClassMethod IsValid(sAs%String) As%Boolean
{
 s z=0,s=$zstrip(s,"*E",,"()") f  s c=$a(s,$i(i)) ret:c<0 'z ret:$i(z,c-40.5)>00
}
0
Lorenzo Scalese  Aug 3, 2023 to Lorenzo Scalese

Variant 69 bytes:

ClassMethod IsValid(sAs%String) As%Boolean
{
1s c=$a(s,$i(i)) q:c<0 '$g(z) g:"()"'[$c(c) 1q:$i(z,c-40.5)>00 g 1
}
0
Julius Kavay  Aug 3, 2023 to Lorenzo Scalese

If my aging brain me do not misleads, you could save two more bytes

 g:"()"'[$c(c)  // instead of this (13 bytes)
 g:c=41-c+40// use this        (11 bytes)
0
Lorenzo Scalese  Aug 3, 2023 to Julius Kavay

Well done! Don't worry about your brain 😉  

; 67 bytes improvement by Julius Kavay1s c=$a(s,$i(i)) q:c<0 '$g(z) g:c=41-c+401q:$i(z,c-40.5)>00 g 1
0
Heloisa Paiva · Aug 2, 2023
ClassMethod IsValid(sAs%String) As%Boolean
{
 f{s a=s,s=$change($zstrip(s,"*E",,"()"),"()",1) ret:a=ss=""}
}
0
Stuart Strickland  Aug 2, 2023 to Heloisa Paiva

Ah yes, $Change can save a character on $Replace. And nested $TR saves on $zstrip.

f{z=x,x=$change($tr(x,$tr(x,"()")),"()",9) ret:x=x=""}

0
Heloisa Paiva  Aug 3, 2023 to Stuart Strickland

I just saw your nested $TR approach in an earlier comment. Very creative, I liked it! I guess together we made it to 61ch?

0
Stuart Strickland  Aug 3, 2023 to Heloisa Paiva

Team effort. Credit where it is due, @Julius Kavay introduced the nested $TR, I changed his "" to a single character that didn't need a quote.
 

0
Julius Kavay · Aug 3, 2023

After I put all the solutions in a pot, salting them with some own ideas then filtering, I got a really nice solution with 55 bytes. Works for all the examples given by @Eduard.Lebedyuk.

The best idea-donors where, among others, @Stuart Strickland and @Lorenzo Scalese, thank you.

ClassMethod IsValid(s)
{
	f{s c=$a(s_0,$i(i))+1 ret:$i(z,c=42-(c=41))>0!'c 'z}
}
0
Julius Kavay  Aug 3, 2023 to Lorenzo Scalese

Your contribution is included too...

0
Julius Kavay  Aug 3, 2023 to Julius Kavay

I just saw now, I published the next to last version instead of the last... sorry. I end up 53 bytes. This "s_0" was a work-around for not to use $g(z) by getting at least one loop for case, someone calls the method with an empty string

ClassMethod IsValid(s)
{
	f{s c=$a(s,$i(i))+1 ret:$i(z,c=42-(c=41))>0!'c 'z}
}
0
Vitaliy Serdtsev  Aug 4, 2023 to Julius Kavay
 

size = 52

ClassMethod IsValid(As %StringAs %Boolean
{
c=$a(s,$i(i))+1 g:1-$i(z,c=42-(c=41))&'z
}
0
Chad Severtson · Aug 3, 2023

I'm late to the party, but it looks like several had similar approaches.

 

60

ClassMethod IsValid(sAs%String) As%Boolean
{
 f{sx="()",s=$CHANGE($TR(s,$TR(s,x)),x,"") q:s'[x} qs=""
}
0