_267.java

package com.fishercoder.solutions;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;

public class _267 {

    public static class Solution1 {
        public List<String> generatePalindromes(String s) {
            int odd = 0;
            String mid = "";
            List<String> res = new ArrayList();
            List<Character> list = new ArrayList();
            Map<Character, Integer> map = new HashMap();

            // step 1. build character count map and count odds
            for (int i = 0; i < s.length(); i++) {
                char c = s.charAt(i);
                map.put(c, map.containsKey(c) ? map.get(c) + 1 : 1);
                odd += map.get(c) % 2 != 0 ? 1 : -1;
            }

            // cannot form any palindromic string
            if (odd > 1) {
                return res;
            }

            // step 2. add half count of each character to list
            for (Map.Entry<Character, Integer> entry : map.entrySet()) {
                char key = entry.getKey();
                int val = entry.getValue();

                if (val % 2 != 0) {
                    mid += key;
                }

                for (int i = 0; i < val / 2; i++) {
                    list.add(key);
                }
            }

            // step 3. generate all the permutations
            getPerm(list, mid, new boolean[list.size()], new StringBuilder(), res);

            return res;
        }

        // generate all unique permutation from list
        void getPerm(List<Character> list, String mid, boolean[] used, StringBuilder sb,
                     List<String> res) {
            if (sb.length() == list.size()) {
                // form the palindromic string
                res.add(sb.toString() + mid + sb.reverse().toString());
                sb.reverse();
                return;
            }

            for (int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++) {
                // avoid duplication
                if (i > 0 && list.get(i) == list.get(i - 1) && !used[i - 1]) {
                    continue;
                }

                if (!used[i]) {
                    used[i] = true;
                    sb.append(list.get(i));
                    // recursion
                    getPerm(list, mid, used, sb, res);
                    // backtracking
                    used[i] = false;
                    sb.deleteCharAt(sb.length() - 1);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}