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Python Program to Check If Two Strings are Anagram

In this tutorial, let’s learn and practice the anagrams program in Python and understand how to efficiently determine if two strings are anagrams of each other. This essential skill will greatly enhance your ability to analyze, manipulate, and compare textual data.

Anagrams are words or phrases formed by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase. Checking if two strings are anagrams involves verifying whether they contain the same characters, regardless of their order. 

So, here, we will dive into the anagram program in Python, highlighting practical use cases and see insightful examples for better comprehension. 

The anagram programs are useful in various scenarios, including:

  • Word Games and Puzzles: Anagrams play a significant role in word games, puzzles, and brain teasers. Being able to identify anagrams allows you to find hidden words, solve crossword clues, and challenge yourself with linguistic conundrums.

  • Text Processing and Data Cleansing: Anagrams are relevant in data preprocessing tasks where ensuring consistency and removing duplicates are essential. By comparing strings for anagram equivalence, you can identify and eliminate redundant or identical entries, improving data quality.

  • Cryptography and Security: Anagram checking techniques have implications in cryptography and security applications. In some encryption algorithms, anagrams may be used as a basis for key generation or message scrambling, highlighting the importance of efficient anagram detection.

To practice and solidify your understanding of anagram checking in Python, we recommend utilizing the online Python compiler by Tutorials Freak. This dynamic platform offers a user-friendly interface, allowing you to write, run, and experiment with Python code directly in your web browser. 

Check Two Strings Are Anagram in Python

To check whether two strings are anagrams in Python, you can compare if the two strings have the same set of characters, disregarding the order.

Code

def are_anagrams(str1, str2):
    str1 = str1.replace(" ", "").lower()
    str2 = str2.replace(" ", "").lower()
    
    return sorted(str1) == sorted(str2)

# Example usage
string1 = "a gentleman"
string2 = "elegant man"
if are_anagrams(string1, string2):
    print("The strings are anagrams.")
else:
    print("The strings are not anagrams.")

Output

The strings are anagrams.

Explanation

When you run this program, it will output whether the two strings are anagrams or not.

In the `are_anagrams` function, we remove spaces and convert the strings to lowercase using the `replace()` and `lower()` methods. 

Then, we compare the sorted versions of the two strings using the `sorted()` function. If the sorted strings are equal, it means they have the same set of characters and thus are anagrams.

In the example, the strings ‘a gentleman’ and ‘elegant man’ are passed to the `are_anagrams` function. Since they have the same set of characters, the program will output: "The strings are anagrams."

Python Course

Anagram Program in Python Using for Loop

Here's an anagram program in Python using a for loop to check if two strings are anagrams:

Code

def are_anagrams(str1, str2):
    str1 = str1.replace(" ", "").lower()
    str2 = str2.replace(" ", "").lower()

    if len(str1) != len(str2):
        return False

    for char in str1:
        if char in str2:
            str2 = str2.replace(char, "", 1)
        else:
            return False

    return True

# Example usage
string1 = "schoolmaster"
string2 = "the classroom"
if are_anagrams(string1, string2):
    print("The strings are anagrams.")
else:
    print("The strings are not anagrams.")

Output

The strings are anagrams.

Explanation

In this version, the are_anagrams function iterates over each character in `str1` using a for loop. 

For each character, it checks if it exists in `str2`. If it does, it removes the first occurrence of that character from `str2` using the `replace()` method. 

If a character is not found in `str2`, or if the lengths of the two strings are not equal, it returns False. If the for loop completes without any issues, it returns True, indicating that the strings are anagrams.

Anagram Count Program in Python

To count the number of anagrams in a given list of strings in Python, we can create a program that compares each pair of strings and counts the occurrences of anagrams.

Code

from collections import Counter

def count_anagrams(strings):
    anagram_count = 0
    counts = Counter()

    for string in strings:
        sorted_string = ''.join(sorted(string))
        anagram_count += counts[sorted_string]
        counts[sorted_string] += 1

    return anagram_count

# Example usage
string_list = ["state", "taste", "inch", "chin", "cat"]
num_anagrams = count_anagrams(string_list)
print(f"The number of anagrams in the list is: {num_anagrams}")

Output

The number of anagrams in the list is: 2

Explanation

In the count_anagrams function, we initialize anagram_count as 0 to keep track of the total number of anagrams. We use the Counter class from the collections module to store the counts of each sorted string.

We iterate over each string in the strings list. For each string, we sort it and convert it back to a string using sorted(). We then use this sorted string as a key to access the count from the counts counter. If the count is non-zero, we increment anagram_count and update the count in the counter by adding 1.

Finally, the function returns the total number of anagrams found.

Anagram Generator Program in Python

To generate anagrams of a given word or string in Python, you can use the itertools.permutations() function to generate all possible permutations of the characters. 

Code

from itertools import permutations

def generate_anagrams(word):
    anagrams = [''.join(perm) for perm in permutations(word)]
    return anagrams

# Example usage
input_word = "tech"
anagram_list = generate_anagrams(input_word)
print(f"Anagrams of '{input_word}':")
for anagram in anagram_list:
    print(anagram)

Output

Anagrams of 'tech':
tech
tehc
tceh
tche
thec
thce
etch
ethc
ecth
echt
ehtc
ehct
cteh
cthe
ceth
ceht
chte
chet
htec
htce
hetc
hect
hcte
hcet

Explanation

In the generate_anagrams function, we use permutations(word) to generate all possible permutations of the characters in the given word. Each permutation is converted back into a string using ''.join(perm). These strings are then collected into a list called anagrams, which is returned at the end.

Anagram Program in Python Using Dictionary

Here's an anagram program in Python that uses a dictionary to group anagrams together:

Code

rom collections import defaultdict

def group_anagrams(strings):
    anagram_groups = defaultdict(list)

    for string in strings:
        sorted_string = ''.join(sorted(string))
        anagram_groups[sorted_string].append(string)

    return list(anagram_groups.values())

# Example usage
string_list = ["angel", "glean", "arc", "car", "inch", "chin"]
anagram_groups = group_anagrams(string_list)
print("Anagram groups:")
for group in anagram_groups:
    print(group)

Output

Anagram groups:
['angel', 'glean']
['arc', 'car']
['inch', 'chin']

Explanation

In the group_anagrams function, we create a defaultdict with the list type as the default value. This allows us to group the anagrams together conveniently.

We iterate over each string in the strings list. For each string, we sort it and convert it back to a string using sorted(). We then use this sorted string as a key in the anagram_groups dictionary. We append the original string to the list associated with that key.

Finally, the function returns a list containing all the values (anagram groups) from the anagram_groups dictionary.