What is a group anagram?

In this article, we will explore the concept of grouping anagrams, a fascinating aspect of language and programming. This guide offers straightforward methods for identifying and grouping anagrams, using examples and algorithmic approaches suited for anyone interested in coding challenges or linguistic puzzles. Whether you're honing your coding skills or simply love word games, our insights will help you understand and apply this interesting topic effectively.

Problem Statement

We are given a list of words, and our task is to group them such that each group contains words that are anagrams of each other. Anagrams are words or phrases made by rearranging the letters of another, using all the original letters exactly once.

Examples

• Input: ["eat", "tea", "tan", "ate", "nat", "bat"]
• Output: [["eat", "tea", "ate"], ["tan", "nat"], ["bat"]]
• Explanation: "eat", "tea", and "ate" are all anagrams of each other, as are "tan" and "nat". "bat" is an anagram of itself.

Approaches to Grouping Anagrams

Sorting Method

Method: Sort each word alphabetically and use the sorted word as a key in a hash map.

Explanation: By sorting the words, words that are anagrams of each other will have the same sorted form, making it easy to group them using a hash map.

Time Complexity: O(n * k log k), where n is the number of words and k is the maximum length of a word.
Space Complexity: O(n), for storing the groups of anagrams.

Counting Method

Method: Count the frequency of each letter in a word and use it as a key in a hash map.

Explanation: This method uses the character counts as a hashable key to group words. It ensures that words with the same character frequencies are grouped together.

Time Complexity: O(n * k) , where k is the average length of the words.
Space Complexity: O(n), for storing the groups of anagrams.

Application

Grouping anagrams can be particularly useful in developing games like Scrabble, creating educational tools, or any application where linguistic patterns are relevant. It's a useful technique for software developers interested in natural language processing or creating algorithms that require sorting or classifying text.

Conclusion

Understanding how to group anagrams is not just about coding a solution; it’s about enhancing your ability to manipulate and understand language through programming. This skill is invaluable for solving complex problems in software development and creating engaging and intelligent applications.