Encode and Decode Strings

Encode and Decode Strings | Blind 75 Practice | DarkInterview

Design an algorithm to encode a list of strings to a string. The encoded string is then sent over the network and is decoded back to the original list of strings.

Machine 1 (sender) has the function:

string encode(vector<string> strs) {
    // ... your code
    return encoded_string;
}

Machine 2 (receiver) has the function:

vector<string> decode(string s) {
    //... your code
    return strs;
}

So Machine 1 does:

string encoded_string = encode(strs);

and Machine 2 does:

vector<string> strs2 = decode(encoded_string);

strs2 in Machine 2 should be the same as strs in Machine 1.

Implement the encode and decode methods.

Follow up: Could you write a generalized algorithm to work on any possible set of characters?

Examples

Constraints