10_Regular_Expression_Matching.java

/*
Implement regular expression matching with support for '.' and '*'.

'.' Matches any single character.
'*' Matches zero or more of the preceding element.

The matching should cover the entire input string (not partial).

The function prototype should be:
bool isMatch(const char *s, const char *p)

Some examples:
isMatch("aa","a") → false
isMatch("aa","aa") → true
isMatch("aaa","aa") → false
isMatch("aa", "a*") → true
isMatch("aa", ".*") → true
isMatch("ab", ".*") → true
isMatch("aab", "c*a*b") → true
*/

class Solution {
    public boolean isMatch(String text, String pattern) {
        if (pattern.isEmpty()) return text.isEmpty();
        boolean first_match = (!text.isEmpty() && 
                               (pattern.charAt(0) == text.charAt(0) || pattern.charAt(0) == '.'));
        
        if (pattern.length() >= 2 && pattern.charAt(1) == '*'){
            return (isMatch(text, pattern.substring(2)) || 
                    (first_match && isMatch(text.substring(1), pattern)));
        } else {
            return first_match && isMatch(text.substring(1), pattern.substring(1));
        }
    }
}