// Returns a new string comprised of every characters in `xs` except for the // character at `i`. function everyOtherChar(xs: string, i: number): string[] { const result = []; for (let j = 0; j < xs.length; j += 1) { if (i !== j) { result.push(xs[j]); } } return [xs[i], result.join('')]; } function getPermutations(xs: string): Set<string> { if (xs === '') { return new Set(['']); } const result: Set<string> = new Set; for (let i = 0; i < xs.length; i += 1) { const [char, rest] = everyOtherChar(xs, i); const perms = getPermutations(rest); for (const perm of perms) { result.add(char + perm); } } return result; } // Tests let desc = 'empty string'; let input = ''; let actual = getPermutations(input); let expected = new Set(['']); assert(isSetsEqual(actual, expected), desc); desc = 'one character string'; input = 'a'; actual = getPermutations(input); expected = new Set(['a']); assert(isSetsEqual(actual, expected), desc); desc = 'two character string'; input = 'ab'; actual = getPermutations(input); expected = new Set(['ab', 'ba']); assert(isSetsEqual(actual, expected), desc); desc = 'three character string'; input = 'abc'; actual = getPermutations(input); expected = new Set(['abc', 'acb', 'bac', 'bca', 'cab', 'cba']); assert(isSetsEqual(actual, expected), desc); desc = 'four character string'; input = 'abca'; actual = getPermutations(input); expected = new Set([ 'abca', 'abac', 'acba', 'acab', 'aabc', 'aacb', 'baca', 'baac', 'bcaa', 'bcaa', 'baac', 'baca', 'caba', 'caab', 'cbaa', 'cbaa', 'caab', 'caba', 'aabc', 'aacb', 'abac', 'abca', 'acab', 'acba' ]); assert(isSetsEqual(actual, expected), desc); function isSetsEqual(as, bs) { if (as.size !== bs.size) { return false; } for (let a of as) { if (!bs.has(a)) return false; } return true; } function assert(condition, desc) { if (condition) { console.log(`${desc} ... PASS`); } else { console.log(`${desc} ... FAIL`); } }