Minimum Deletion Window Equalizer
Problem Description
You are given two strings `source` and `pattern`. Find the **minimum length** contiguous substring of `source` that contains **all characters** of `pattern` (including duplicates). Return the substring itself. If no such window exists, return an empty string `""`.
**Example 1:**
```
Input: source = "xyzabcxyz", pattern = "bca"
Output: "abc"
Explanation: "abc" (length 3) is the shortest window containing 'a', 'b', and 'c'.
```
**Example 2:**
```
Input: source = "abfgcd", pattern = "acd"
Output: "abfgcd"
Explanation: The entire string is the minimum window.
```
Constraints
- 1 <= source.length <= 10^5
- 1 <= pattern.length <= 10^4
- source and pattern consist of lowercase and uppercase English letters
Follow-up
What if `pattern` can contain wildcard characters that match any single letter? How would you adapt the sliding window approach?
Hints
Try the problem first. If you get stuck, you can reveal hints one at a time.
Solution
Leaderboard
No entries yet for python.
Be the first — submit an accepted solution.