Unraveling the Mystery of Anagrams in Java

What Are Anagrams?

Anagrams are two strings that can be formed by rearranging the characters of each other. Sounds simple, but it requires a deep understanding of Java programming concepts, including Java Strings and Java Arrays. Take, for instance, the words “Race” and “Care”. By rearranging the characters, we can form one string from the other.

The Challenge of Case Sensitivity

Java is a case-sensitive language, which means that uppercase and lowercase letters are treated as distinct characters. This presents a challenge when checking for anagrams, as the letters “R” and “r” are considered different. To overcome this, we need to convert both strings to the same case, either uppercase or lowercase.

A Step-by-Step Approach to Checking Anagrams

Let’s dive into the Java program to check if two strings are anagrams. We’ll use two strings, str1 and str2, and follow these steps:

1. Convert to Lowercase: Convert both strings to lowercase using the toLowerCase() method.
2. Convert to Char Array: Use the toCharArray() method to convert each string into a character array.
3. Sort the Arrays: Employ the Arrays.sort() method to sort both character arrays.
4. Compare the Arrays: Use the Arrays.equals() method to check if the sorted arrays are equal.

If the sorted arrays are equal, then the original strings are anagrams.

public boolean areAnagrams(String str1, String str2) {
    String lowerStr1 = str1.toLowerCase();
    String lowerStr2 = str2.toLowerCase();

    char[] charArray1 = lowerStr1.toCharArray();
    char[] charArray2 = lowerStr2.toCharArray();

    Arrays.sort(charArray1);
    Arrays.sort(charArray2);

    return Arrays.equals(charArray1, charArray2);
}

Taking it to the Next Level: User Input

But what if we want to take input from users and check if their strings are anagrams? We can use the Scanner class to read user input. Here’s an example:

import java.util.Scanner;

public class AnagramChecker {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);

        System.out.println("Enter the first string:");
        String str1 = scanner.nextLine();

        System.out.println("Enter the second string:");
        String str2 = scanner.nextLine();

        if (areAnagrams(str1, str2)) {
            System.out.println("The strings are anagrams.");
        } else {
            System.out.println("The strings are not anagrams.");
        }
    }

    public static boolean areAnagrams(String str1, String str2) {
        // implementation same as above
    }
}

By mastering this concept, you’ll be able to write efficient Java programs that can detect anagrams with ease.