The Runtime Theory
mediumLeetCode#sliding-window#frequency-count

Longest Repeating Character Replacement

Find the longest substring that can be made uniform by replacing at most k characters.

The Runtime Theory Team25 min read
Solve it

Solving happens on the judge — come back and mark it done

Sample cases

ins="ABAB", k=2

out4

ins="AABABBA", k=1

out4

ins="AAAA", k=0

out4

Find the longest substring that can be made uniform by replacing at most k characters.

A good solution should

  • State the invariant or decision rule that makes the approach correct.
  • Explain the time and space complexity in terms of the input sizes and required output.
  • Handle empty, minimal, duplicate, and boundary-shaped inputs covered by the contract.

Reasoning prompt

A window is feasible when its length minus the most frequent character count is at most k. Explain whether a stale maximum affects correctness in the common linear method.

Use the linked judge for the canonical problem. The examples above are compact TRT checks; write additional cases before submitting, especially for the boundary that tends to break your chosen invariant.

More practice in this topic

One dispatch a week

The trace behind each problem, the tradeoff that explains it, and one technical dispatch per week — no noise.

One technical dispatch per week. No noise.

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