CodingMediumcod-g1379

Subject StringsLevel Entry–Mid~14 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

Given two lowercase strings a and b, return the minimum total number of character deletions — you may delete from either string — needed to make them anagrams of each other. For example, 'cde' and 'abc' need 4 deletions: remove 'd' and 'e' from the first, 'a' and 'b' from the second, leaving 'c' and 'c'.

Implement

anagram_deletions(a: str, b: str) → int

Examples

in["cde","abc"]out4

What a strong answer looks like

State your approach and its time/space complexity out loud before you optimize. Handle the edge cases (empty input, duplicates, overflow), and say why you chose this over the brute force. Green tests are the floor, not the grade.

Learn the concepts

Vibe coding: describe the solution in plain language (or narrate it) and the coach grades your approach. Generating runnable code from your description is coming next.

Run or narrate your approach, then ask the coach.