Are two order tags anagrams

Question

Two systems label the same order with scrambled tags. Decide whether one tag is a rearrangement of the other, that is, whether both use exactly the same characters with the same multiplicities.

a = "AAPL", b = "PLAA"
-> True
a = "AAPL", b = "APLE"
-> False

Return True if a and b are anagrams of each other, else False. Aim for $O(n)$ .

Accepted Answer

Two strings are anagrams exactly when their character-count maps are identical. A quick length check short-circuits obvious mismatches; then compare the two frequency tables. Python's Counter builds and compares them directly. Tracing "AAPL" and "PLAA": both count to A: 2, P: 1, L: 1, so they match and the answer is True. For "APLE" the counts differ (E appears, one A is missing), so it is False. Time O(n), space O(u) for the u distinct characters. Decide up front whether case and whitespace matter, normalize with .lower() or strip spaces if the spec calls for it. Takeaway. Anagram checks red…

Are two order tags anagrams

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