Check whether two Strings are anagram of each other

Last Updated : 28 Dec, 2023

Given two strings. The task is to check whether the given strings are anagrams of each other or not. An anagram of a string is another string that contains the same characters, only the order of characters can be different. For example, “abcd” and “dabc” are an anagram of each other.

Examples:

Input: str1 = “listen” str2 = “silent”
Output: “Anagram”
Explanation: All characters of “listen” and “silent” are the same.

Input: str1 = “gram” str2 = “arm”
Output: “Not Anagram”

We strongly recommend that you click here and practice it, before moving on to the solution.

Check whether two strings are anagrams of each other using sorting:

Sort the two given strings and compare, if they are equal then they are anagram of each other.

Follow the steps to implement the idea:-

Sort both strings.
Compare the sorted strings:
- If they are equal return True.
- Else return False.

Below is the implementation of the above idea:

C++

// C++ program to check whether two strings are anagrams
// of each other
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
/* function to check whether two strings are anagram of
each other */
bool areAnagram(string str1, string str2)
{
    // Get lengths of both strings
    int n1 = str1.length();
    int n2 = str2.length();
 
    // If length of both strings is not same, then they
    // cannot be anagram
    if (n1 != n2)
        return false;
 
    // Sort both the strings
    sort(str1.begin(), str1.end());
    sort(str2.begin(), str2.end());
 
    // Compare sorted strings
    for (int i = 0; i < n1; i++)
        if (str1[i] != str2[i])
            return false;
 
    return true;
}
 
// Driver code
int main()
{
    string str1 = "gram";
    string str2 = "arm";
 
    // Function Call
    if (areAnagram(str1, str2))
        cout << "The two strings are anagram of each other";
    else
        cout << "The two strings are not anagram of each "
                "other";
 
    return 0;
}

Java

// JAVA program to check whether two strings
// are anagrams of each other
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Collections;
 
class GFG {
 
    /* function to check whether two strings are
    anagram of each other */
    static boolean areAnagram(char[] str1, char[] str2)
    {
        // Get lengths of both strings
        int n1 = str1.length;
        int n2 = str2.length;
 
        // If length of both strings is not same,
        // then they cannot be anagram
        if (n1 != n2)
            return false;
 
        // Sort both strings
        Arrays.sort(str1);
        Arrays.sort(str2);
 
        // Compare sorted strings
        for (int i = 0; i < n1; i++)
            if (str1[i] != str2[i])
                return false;
 
        return true;
    }
 
    /* Driver Code*/
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        char str1[] = { 'g', 'r', 'a', 'm' };
        char str2[] = { 'a', 'r', 'm' };
       
        // Function Call
        if (areAnagram(str1, str2))
            System.out.println("The two strings are"
                               + " anagram of each other");
        else
            System.out.println("The two strings are not"
                               + " anagram of each other");
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Nikita Tiwari.

Python

class Solution:
 
    # Function is to check whether two strings are anagram of each other or not.
    def isAnagram(self, a, b):
 
        if sorted(a) == sorted(b):
            return True
        else:
            return False
 
# {
#  Driver Code Starts
 
if __name__ == '__main__':
    a = "gram"
    b = "arm"
    if(Solution().isAnagram(a, b)):
      print("The two strings are anagram of each other")
    else:
      print("The two strings are not anagram of each other")
# } Driver Code Ends

C#

// C# program to check whether two
// strings are anagrams of each other
using System;
using System.Collections;
class GFG {
 
    /* function to check whether two
strings are anagram of each other */
    public static bool areAnagram(ArrayList str1,
                                  ArrayList str2)
    {
        // Get lengths of both strings
        int n1 = str1.Count;
        int n2 = str2.Count;
 
        // If length of both strings is not
        // same, then they cannot be anagram
        if (n1 != n2) {
            return false;
        }
 
        // Sort both strings
        str1.Sort();
        str2.Sort();
 
        // Compare sorted strings
        for (int i = 0; i < n1; i++) {
            if (str1[i] != str2[i]) {
                return false;
            }
        }
 
        return true;
    }
 
    // Driver Code
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // create and initialize new ArrayList
        ArrayList str1 = new ArrayList();
        str1.Add('g');
        str1.Add('r');
        str1.Add('a');
        str1.Add('m');
        // create and initialize new ArrayList
        ArrayList str2 = new ArrayList();
        str2.Add('a');
        str2.Add('r');
        str2.Add('m');
 
        // Function call 
        if (areAnagram(str1, str2)) {
            Console.WriteLine("The two strings are"
                              + " anagram of each other");
        }
        else {
            Console.WriteLine("The two strings are not"
                              + " anagram of each other");
        }
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Shrikant13

Javascript

<script>
 
// JavaScript program to check whether two strings
// are anagrams of each other
 
    /* function to check whether two strings are
    anagram of each other */
    function areAnagram(str1,str2)
    {
        // Get lengths of both strings
        let n1 = str1.length;
        let n2 = str2.length;
   
        // If length of both strings is not same,
        // then they cannot be anagram
        if (n1 != n2)
            return false;
   
        // Sort both strings
        str1.sort();
        str2.sort()
   
        // Compare sorted strings
        for (let i = 0; i < n1; i++)
            if (str1[i] != str2[i])
                return false;
   
        return true;
    }
     
    /* Driver Code*/
    let str1=['g', 'r', 'a', 'm' ];
    let str2=['a', 'r', 'm' ];
     
    // Function Call
        if (areAnagram(str1, str2))
            document.write("The two strings are"
                               + " anagram of each other<br>");
        else
            document.write("The two strings are not"
                               + " anagram of each other<br>");
 
 
 
 
 
// This code is contributed by rag2127
 
</script>

Output

The two strings are not anagram of each other

Time Complexity: O(N * logN), For sorting.
Auxiliary Space: O(1) as it is using constant extra space

Check whether two strings are anagrams of each other by counting frequency:

The idea is based in an assumption that the set of possible characters in both strings is small. that the characters are stored using 8 bit and there can be 256 possible characters.

So count the frequency of the characters and if the frequency of characters in both strings are the same, they are anagram of each other.

Follow the below steps to Implement the idea:

Create count arrays of size 256 for both strings. Initialize all values in count arrays as 0.
Iterate through every character of both strings and increment the count of characters in the corresponding count arrays.
Compare count arrays. If both count arrays are the same, then return true else return false.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// C++ program to check if two strings
// are anagrams of each other
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
#define NO_OF_CHARS 256
 
/* function to check whether two strings are anagram of
each other */
bool areAnagram(char* str1, char* str2)
{
    // Create 2 count arrays and initialize all values as 0
    int count1[NO_OF_CHARS] = { 0 };
    int count2[NO_OF_CHARS] = { 0 };
    int i;
 
    // For each character in input strings, increment count
    // in the corresponding count array
    for (i = 0; str1[i] && str2[i]; i++) {
        count1[str1[i]]++;
        count2[str2[i]]++;
    }
 
    // If both strings are of different length. Removing
    // this condition will make the program fail for strings
    // like "aaca" and "aca"
    if (str1[i] || str2[i])
        return false;
 
    // Compare count arrays
    for (i = 0; i < NO_OF_CHARS; i++)
        if (count1[i] != count2[i])
            return false;
 
    return true;
}
 
/* Driver code*/
int main()
{
    char str1[] = "gram";
    char str2[] = "arm";
 
    // Function Call
    if (areAnagram(str1, str2))
        cout << "The two strings are anagram of each other";
    else
        cout << "The two strings are not anagram of each "
                "other";
 
    return 0;
}
 
// This is code is contributed by rathbhupendra

C

// C program to check if two strings
// are anagrams of each other
#include <stdio.h>
#define NO_OF_CHARS 256
 
/* function to check whether two strings are anagram of
   each other */
bool areAnagram(char* str1, char* str2)
{
    // Create 2 count arrays and initialize all values as 0
    int count1[NO_OF_CHARS] = { 0 };
    int count2[NO_OF_CHARS] = { 0 };
    int i;
 
    // For each character in input strings, increment count
    // in the corresponding count array
    for (i = 0; str1[i] && str2[i]; i++) {
        count1[str1[i]]++;
        count2[str2[i]]++;
    }
 
    // If both strings are of different length. Removing
    // this condition will make the program fail for strings
    // like "aaca" and "aca"
    if (str1[i] || str2[i])
        return false;
 
    // Compare count arrays
    for (i = 0; i < NO_OF_CHARS; i++)
        if (count1[i] != count2[i])
            return false;
 
    return true;
}
 
/* Driver code*/
int main()
{
    char str1[] = "gram";
    char str2[] = "arm";
 
    // Function Call
    if (areAnagram(str1, str2))
        printf("The two strings are anagram of each other");
    else
        printf("The two strings are not anagram of each "
               "other");
 
    return 0;
}

Java

// JAVA program to check if two strings
// are anagrams of each other
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
 
class GFG {
 
    static int NO_OF_CHARS = 256;
 
    /* function to check whether two strings
    are anagram of each other */
    static boolean areAnagram(char str1[], char str2[])
    {
        // Create 2 count arrays and initialize
        // all values as 0
        int count1[] = new int[NO_OF_CHARS];
        Arrays.fill(count1, 0);
        int count2[] = new int[NO_OF_CHARS];
        Arrays.fill(count2, 0);
        int i;
 
        // For each character in input strings,
        // increment count in the corresponding
        // count array
        for (i = 0; i < str1.length && i < str2.length;
             i++) {
            count1[str1[i]]++;
            count2[str2[i]]++;
        }
 
        // If both strings are of different length.
        // Removing this condition will make the program
        // fail for strings like "aaca" and "aca"
        if (str1.length != str2.length)
            return false;
 
        // Compare count arrays
        for (i = 0; i < NO_OF_CHARS; i++)
            if (count1[i] != count2[i])
                return false;
 
        return true;
    }
 
    /* Driver code*/
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        char str1[] = ("gram").toCharArray();
        char str2[] = ("arm").toCharArray();
 
        // Function call
        if (areAnagram(str1, str2))
            System.out.println("The two strings are"
                               + " anagram of each other");
        else
            System.out.println("The two strings are not"
                               + " anagram of each other");
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Nikita Tiwari.

Python

# Python program to check if two strings are anagrams of
# each other
NO_OF_CHARS = 256
 
# Function to check whether two strings are anagram of
# each other
 
 
def areAnagram(str1, str2):
 
    # Create two count arrays and initialize all values as 0
    count1 = [0] * NO_OF_CHARS
    count2 = [0] * NO_OF_CHARS
 
    # For each character in input strings, increment count
    # in the corresponding count array
    for i in str1:
        count1[ord(i)] += 1
 
    for i in str2:
        count2[ord(i)] += 1
 
    # If both strings are of different length. Removing this
    # condition will make the program fail for strings like
    # "aaca" and "aca"
    if len(str1) != len(str2):
        return 0
 
    # Compare count arrays
    for i in xrange(NO_OF_CHARS):
        if count1[i] != count2[i]:
            return 0
 
    return 1
 
 
# Driver code
str1 = "gram"
str2 = "arm"
 
# Function call
if areAnagram(str1, str2):
    print "The two strings are anagram of each other"
else:
    print "The two strings are not anagram of each other"
 
# This code is contributed by Bhavya Jain

C#

// C# program to check if two strings
// are anagrams of each other
 
using System;
 
public class GFG {
 
    static int NO_OF_CHARS = 256;
 
    /* function to check whether two strings
    are anagram of each other */
    static bool areAnagram(char[] str1, char[] str2)
    {
        // Create 2 count arrays and initialize
        // all values as 0
        int[] count1 = new int[NO_OF_CHARS];
        int[] count2 = new int[NO_OF_CHARS];
        int i;
 
        // For each character in input strings,
        // increment count in the corresponding
        // count array
        for (i = 0; i < str1.Length && i < str2.Length;
             i++) {
            count1[str1[i]]++;
            count2[str2[i]]++;
        }
 
        // If both strings are of different length.
        // Removing this condition will make the program
        // fail for strings like "aaca" and "aca"
        if (str1.Length != str2.Length)
            return false;
 
        // Compare count arrays
        for (i = 0; i < NO_OF_CHARS; i++)
            if (count1[i] != count2[i])
                return false;
 
        return true;
    }
 
    /* Driver code*/
    public static void Main()
    {
        char[] str1 = ("gram").ToCharArray();
        char[] str2 = ("arm").ToCharArray();
 
        // Function Call
        if (areAnagram(str1, str2))
            Console.WriteLine("The two strings are"
                              + " anagram of each other");
        else
            Console.WriteLine("The two strings are not"
                              + " anagram of each other");
    }
}
 
// This code contributed by 29AjayKumar

Javascript

<script>
// JAVAscript program to check if two strings
// are anagrams of each other
 
let NO_OF_CHARS = 256;
 
/* function to check whether two strings
    are anagram of each other */
function areAnagram(str1, str2)
{
 
    // Create 2 count arrays and initialize
        // all values as 0
        let count1 = new Array(NO_OF_CHARS);
        let count2 = new Array(NO_OF_CHARS);
        for(let i = 0; i < NO_OF_CHARS; i++)
        {
            count1[i] = 0;
            count2[i] = 0;
        }
         
        let i;
  
        // For each character in input strings,
        // increment count in the corresponding
        // count array
        for (i = 0; i < str1.length && i < str2.length;
             i++) {
            count1[str1[i].charCodeAt(0)]++;
            count2[str1[i].charCodeAt(0)]++;
        }
  
        // If both strings are of different length.
        // Removing this condition will make the program
        // fail for strings like "aaca" and "aca"
        if (str1.length != str2.length)
            return false;
  
        // Compare count arrays
        for (i = 0; i < NO_OF_CHARS; i++)
            if (count1[i] != count2[i])
                return false;
  
        return true;
}
 
/* Driver code*/
let str1 = ("gram").split("");
        let str2 = ("arm").split("");
  
        // Function call
        if (areAnagram(str1, str2))
            document.write("The two strings are"
                               + "anagram of each other<br>");
        else
            document.write("The two strings are not"
                               + " anagram of each other<br>");
 
 
// This code is contributed by avanitrachhadiya2155
</script>

Output

The two strings are not anagram of each other

Time Complexity: O(n)
Auxiliary Space: O(256) i.e. O(1) for constant space.

Check whether two strings are anagrams of each other by storing all characters in HashMap:

The idea is a modification of the above approach where instead of creating an array of 256 characters HashMap is used to store characters and count of characters in HashMap. Idea is to put all characters of one String in HashMap and reduce them as they are encountered while looping over other the string.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// C++ implementation of the approach
// Function that returns true if a and b
// are anagarams of each other
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
bool isAnagram(string a, string b)
{
 
    // Check if length of both strings is same or not
    if (a.length() != b.length()) {
        return false;
    }
    // Create a HashMap containing Character as Key and
    // Integer as Value. We will be storing character as
    // Key and count of character as Value.
    unordered_map<char, int> Map;
    // Loop over all character of String a and put in
    // HashMap.
    for (int i = 0; i < a.length(); i++) {
        Map[a[i]]++;
    }
    // Now loop over String b
    for (int i = 0; i < b.length(); i++) {
        // Check if current character already exists in
        // HashMap/map
        if (Map.find(b[i]) != Map.end()) {
            // If contains reduce count of that
            // character by 1 to indicate that current
            // character has been already counted as
            // idea here is to check if in last count of
            // all characters in last is zero which
            // means all characters in String a are
            // present in String b.
            Map[b[i]] -= 1;
        }
        else {
            return false;
        }
    }
 
    // Loop over all keys and check if all keys are 0.
    // If so it means it is anagram.
    for (auto items : Map) {
        if (items.second != 0) {
            return false;
        }
    }
    // Returning True as all keys are zero
    return true;
}
 
// Driver code
int main()
{
    string str1 = "gram";
    string str2 = "arm";
 
    // Function call
    if (isAnagram(str1, str2))
        cout << "The two strings are anagram of each other"
             << endl;
    else
        cout << "The two strings are not anagram of each "
                "other"
             << endl;
}
 
// This code is contributed by shinjanpatra

Java

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
 
class GFG {
    public static boolean isAnagram(String a, String b)
    {
        // Check if length of both strings is same or not
        if (a.length() != b.length()) {
            return false;
        }
        // Create a HashMap containing Character as Key and
        // Integer as Value. We will be storing character as
        // Key and count of character as Value.
        HashMap<Character, Integer> map = new HashMap<>();
        // Loop over all character of String a and put in
        // HashMap.
        for (int i = 0; i < a.length(); i++) {
            // Check if HashMap already contain current
            // character or not
            if (map.containsKey(a.charAt(i))) {
                // If contains increase count by 1 for that
                // character
                map.put(a.charAt(i),
                        map.get(a.charAt(i)) + 1);
            }
            else {
                // else put that character in map and set
                // count to 1 as character is encountered
                // first time
                map.put(a.charAt(i), 1);
            }
        }
        // Now loop over String b
        for (int i = 0; i < b.length(); i++) {
            // Check if current character already exists in
            // HashMap/map
            if (map.containsKey(b.charAt(i))) {
                // If contains reduce count of that
                // character by 1 to indicate that current
                // character has been already counted as
                // idea here is to check if in last count of
                // all characters in last is zero which
                // means all characters in String a are
                // present in String b.
                map.put(b.charAt(i),
                        map.get(b.charAt(i)) - 1);
            }
            else {
                return false;
            }
        }
        // Extract all keys of HashMap/map
        Set<Character> keys = map.keySet();
        // Loop over all keys and check if all keys are 0.
        // If so it means it is anagram.
        for (Character key : keys) {
            if (map.get(key) != 0) {
                return false;
            }
        }
        // Returning True as all keys are zero
        return true;
    }
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        String str1 = "gram";
        String str2 = "arm";
 
        // Function call
        if (isAnagram(str1, str2))
            System.out.print("The two strings are "
                             + "anagram of each other");
        else
            System.out.print("The two strings are "
                             + "not anagram of each other");
    }
}

Python3

# Python3 implementation of the approach
# Function that returns True if a and b
# are anagarams of each other
 
 
def isAnagram(a, b):
 
    # Check if length of both strings is same or not
    if (len(a) != len(b)):
        return False
 
    # Create a HashMap containing Character as Key and
    # Integer as Value. We will be storing character as
    # Key and count of character as Value.
    map = {}
    # Loop over all character of String a and put in
    # HashMap.
    for i in range(len(a)):
        # Check if HashMap already contain current
        # character or not
        if (a[i] in map):
            # If contains increase count by 1 for that
            # character
            map[a[i]] += 1
 
        else:
            # else set that character in map and set
            # count to 1 as character is encountered
            # first time
            map[a[i]] = 1
 
    # Now loop over String b
    for i in range(len(b)):
        # Check if current character already exists in
        # HashMap/map
        if (b[i] in map):
            # If contains reduce count of that
            # character by 1 to indicate that current
            # character has been already counted as
            # idea here is to check if in last count of
            # all characters in last is zero which
            # means all characters in String a are
            # present in String b.
            map[b[i]] -= 1
        else:
            return False
 
    # Extract all keys of HashMap/map
    keys = map.keys()
    # Loop over all keys and check if all keys are 0.
    # If so it means it is anagram.
    for key in keys:
        if (map[key] != 0):
            return False
 
    # Returning True as all keys are zero
    return True
 
 
# Driver code
str1 = "gram"
str2 = "arm"
 
# Function call
if (isAnagram(str1, str2)):
    print("The two strings are anagram of each other")
else:
    print("The two strings are not anagram of each other")
 
 
# This code is contributed by shinjanpatra

C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
 
public class GFG {
    public static bool isAnagram(String a, String b)
    {
 
        // Check if length of both strings is same or not
        if (a.Length != b.Length) {
            return false;
        }
 
        // Create a Dictionary containing char as Key and
        // int as Value. We will be storing character as
        // Key and count of character as Value.
        Dictionary<char, int> map
            = new Dictionary<char, int>();
 
        // Loop over all character of String a and put in
        // Dictionary.
        for (int i = 0; i < a.Length; i++) {
 
            // Check if Dictionary already contain current
            // character or not
            if (map.ContainsKey(a[i])) {
 
                // If contains increase count by 1 for that
                // character
                map[a[i]] = map[a[i]] + 1;
            }
            else {
 
                // else put that character in map and set
                // count to 1 as character is encountered
                // first time
                map.Add(a[i], 1);
            }
        }
 
        // Now loop over String b
        for (int i = 0; i < b.Length; i++) {
 
            // Check if current character already exists in
            // Dictionary/map
            if (map.ContainsKey(b[i])) {
 
                // If contains reduce count of that
                // character by 1 to indicate that current
                // character has been already counted as
                // idea here is to check if in last count of
                // all characters in last is zero which
                // means all characters in String a are
                // present in String b.
                map[b[i]] = map[b[i]] - 1;
            }
            else {
                return false;
            }
        }
 
        // Extract all keys of Dictionary/map
        var keys = map.Keys;
 
        // Loop over all keys and check if all keys are 0.
        // If so it means it is anagram.
        foreach(char key in keys)
        {
            if (map[key] != 0) {
                return false;
            }
        }
 
        // Returning True as all keys are zero
        return true;
    }
 
    // Driver code
    public static void Main(String[] args)
    {
        String str1 = "gram";
        String str2 = "arm";
 
        // Function call
        if (isAnagram(str1, str2))
            Console.Write("The two strings are "
                          + "anagram of each other");
        else
            Console.Write("The two strings are "
                          + "not anagram of each other");
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by shikhasingrajput

Javascript

<script>
 
// JavaScript implementation of the approach
// Function that returns true if a and b
// are anagarams of each other
 
function isAnagram(a, b)
{
     
    // Check if length of both strings is same or not
        if (a.length != b.length) {
            return false;
        }
        // Create a HashMap containing Character as Key and
        // Integer as Value. We will be storing character as
        // Key and count of character as Value.
        let map = new Map();
        // Loop over all character of String a and put in
        // HashMap.
        for (let i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
            // Check if HashMap already contain current
            // character or not
            if (map.has(a[i])) {
                // If contains increase count by 1 for that
                // character
                map.set(a[i],
                        map.get(a[i]) + 1);
            }
            else {
                // else set that character in map and set
                // count to 1 as character is encountered
                // first time
                map.set(a[i], 1);
            }
        }
        // Now loop over String b
        for (let i = 0; i < b.length; i++) {
            // Check if current character already exists in
            // HashMap/map
            if (map.has(b[i])) {
                // If contains reduce count of that
                // character by 1 to indicate that current
                // character has been already counted as
                // idea here is to check if in last count of
                // all characters in last is zero which
                // means all characters in String a are
                // present in String b.
                map.set(b[i],
                        map.get(b[i]) - 1);
            }
            else {
                return false;
            }
        }
        // Extract all keys of HashMap/map
        let keys = map.keys();
        // Loop over all keys and check if all keys are 0.
        // If so it means it is anagram.
        for (let key of keys) {
            if (map.get(key) != 0) {
                return false;
            }
        }
        // Returning True as all keys are zero
        return true;
    }
 
// Driver code
let str1 = "gram";
let str2 = "arm";
  
// Function call
if (isAnagram(str1, str2))
    document.write("The two strings are anagram of each other");
else
    document.write("The two strings are not anagram of each other");
 
 
// This code is contributed by shinjanpatra
 
</script>

Output

The two strings are not anagram of each other

Time Complexity: O(N)
Auxiliary Space: O(1), Hashmap uses an extra space

Suggest improvement

Find i'th Index character in a binary string obtained after n iterations

Egg Dropping Puzzle | DP-11

Share your thoughts in the comments

Check whether two Strings are anagram of each other

Check whether two strings are anagrams of each other using sorting:

C++

Java

Python

C#

Javascript

Check whether two strings are anagrams of each other by counting frequency:

C++

C

Java

Python

C#

Javascript

Check whether two strings are anagrams of each other by storing all characters in HashMap:

C++

Java

Python3

C#

Javascript

Please Login to comment...

Similar Reads

What kind of Experience do you want to share?