Question

What is a time complexity for finding the longest substring that is common in string S1 and S2 (n1 and n2 are the string lengths of strings s1, s2 respectively)?

(a) O (log n!)

(b) Ɵ (n!)

(c) O (n^2+ n1)

(d) Ɵ (n1 + n2)

Question is taken from Suffix tree in chapter Trie of Data Structures & Algorithms I

I had been asked this question at a job interview.

Answer 1

The correct answer is (d) Ɵ (n1 + n2)

Easy explanation - Suffix Tree allows fast string operation. To check if a substring is present in a string of a length of n, the time complexity for such operation is found to be O (n). The time complexity for finding the longest substring that is common in string S1 and S2 is Ɵ (n1 + n2).