LeetCode 678, Medium. Topics: String, Dynamic Programming, Stack, Greedy. View on LeetCode.
Generate this problem as a practice environment: tested reference solution, 14 parametrized pytest cases, and a playground notebook:
Problem
Given a string s containing only three types of characters: '(', ')' and '*', return true if s is valid.
The following rules define a valid string:
- Any left parenthesis
'(' must have a corresponding right parenthesis ')'.
- Any right parenthesis
')' must have a corresponding left parenthesis '('.
- Left parenthesis
'(' must go before the corresponding right parenthesis ')'.
'*' could be treated as a single right parenthesis ')' or a single left parenthesis '(' or an empty string "".
Examples
Constraints
- 1 <= s.length <= 100
s[i] is '(', ')' or '*'.
Solution
Reference implementation from solution.py on GitHub, full suite in test_solution.py:
Complexity
NeetCode 150, NeetCode 250, NeetCode All. Last modified on September 7, 2026