Check if a string can break another string

String Greedy Sorting

70.9% acceptance

Feb 25, 2026

781

155

Given two strings: s1 and s2 with the same size, check if some permutation of string s1 can break some permutation of string s2 or vice-versa. In other words s2 can break s1 or vice-versa. A string x can break string y (both of size n) if x[i] >= y[i] (in alphabetical order) for all i between 0 and n-1.

Solution

Rust

Time O(n log n)

Space O(1)

LeetCode

solution.rs

impl Solution {
  pub fn check_if_can_break(s1: String, s2: String) -> bool {
    let mut a: Vec<char> = s1.chars().collect();
    let mut b: Vec<char> = s2.chars().collect();
    a.sort_unstable();
    b.sort_unstable();
    let a_breaks_b = a.iter().zip(b.iter()).all(|(x, y)| x >= y);
    let b_breaks_a = b.iter().zip(a.iter()).all(|(x, y)| x >= y);
    a_breaks_b || b_breaks_a
  }
}