Maximum binary string after change

String Greedy

48.0% acceptance

Feb 25, 2026

528

You are given a binary string binary consisting of only 0's or 1's. You can apply each of the following operations any number of times: Operation 1: If the number contains the substring "00", you can replace it with "10". For example, "00010" -> "10010" Operation 2: If the number contains the substring "10", you can replace it with "01". For example, "00010" -> "00001" Return the maximum binary string you can obtain after any number of operations. Binary string x is greater than binary string y if x's decimal representation is greater than y's decimal representation.

Solution

Rust

Time O(n)

Space O(n)

LeetCode

solution.rs

impl Solution {
  pub fn maximum_binary_string(binary: String) -> String {
    let bytes = binary.as_bytes();
    let n = bytes.len();
    let first_zero = match bytes.iter().position(|&b| b == b'0') {
      Some(p) => p,
      None => return binary,
    };
    let zeros: usize = bytes[first_zero..].iter().filter(|&&b| b == b'0').count();
    if zeros == 0 { return binary; }
    let mut result = vec![b'1'; n];
    result[first_zero + zeros - 1] = b'0';
    String::from_utf8(result).unwrap()
  }
}