Given an array of words words[] and a line width l, format the words such that each line has exactly l characters and is fully justified (both left and right).
- Pack as many words as possible into each line greedily.
- Distribute extra spaces as evenly as possible between words on each line.
- If spaces cannot be distributed evenly, the left gaps get one more space than the right gaps.
- The last line is left-justified with a single space between words and trailing spaces to fill the line.
Return a list of strings where each string represents one formatted line.
Examples:
Input: words[] = ["geeksforgeeks", "is", "the", "best", "computer", "science", "portal", "for", "geeks"], l = 16
Output: ["geeksforgeeks is", "the best", "computer science", "portal for geeks"]
Explanation:
"geeksforgeeks is": contains 13 and 2 characters separated by 1 space.
"the best": contains two words and 9 extra spaces.
"computer science": contains 8 and 7 characters and 1 extra space.
"portal for geeks": is left-justified with single spaces.Input: words[] = ["geeks", "for", "geeks"], l = 8
Output: ["geeks ", "for ", "geeks "]
Explanation: Each line contains a single word, so the remaining positions are filled with trailing spaces.
Try It Yourself
Greedy Line Packing with Space Distribution - O(n × l) Time and O(n × l) Space
Pack as many words as possible into each line greedily, then distribute the remaining spaces mathematically. For a line with k words and g = k-1 gaps, compute spacePerGap = totalSpaces / g and extra = totalSpaces % g - the first extra gaps each get one more space than the rest. The last line is handled separately: single space between words, trailing spaces to fill.
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
vector<string> justifyText(vector<string>& words, int l) {
vector<string> result;
int i = 0, n = words.size();
while (i < n) {
// Greedily pack words into the current line
int lineLen = words[i].size();
int j = i + 1;
while (j < n && lineLen + 1 + (int)words[j].size() <= l) {
lineLen += 1 + words[j].size();
j++;
}
int numWords = j - i;
int totalChars = 0;
for (int k = i; k < j; k++) totalChars += words[k].size();
int numSpaces = l - totalChars;
string line = "";
// Last line or single word: left justify with trailing spaces
if (j == n || numWords == 1) {
for (int k = i; k < j; k++) {
if (k > i) line += " ";
line += words[k];
}
line += string(l - line.size(), ' ');
} else {
// Distribute spaces evenly, left gaps get extra if uneven
int gaps = numWords - 1;
int spacePerGap = numSpaces / gaps;
int extra = numSpaces % gaps;
for (int k = i; k < j - 1; k++) {
line += words[k];
line += string(spacePerGap + (k - i < extra ? 1 : 0), ' ');
}
line += words[j - 1];
}
result.push_back(line);
i = j;
}
return result;
}
int main() {
vector<string> words = {"geeksforgeeks", "is", "the", "best", "computer",
"science", "portal", "for", "geeks"};
int l = 16;
vector<string> ans = justifyText(words, l);
cout << "[";
for (int i = 0; i < ans.size(); i++) {
cout << "\"" << ans[i] << "\"";
if (i != ans.size() - 1) cout << ", ";
}
cout << "]" << endl;
return 0;
}
import java.util.ArrayList;
class GFG {
static ArrayList<String> justifyText(String[] words, int l) {
ArrayList<String> result = new ArrayList<>();
int i = 0, n = words.length;
while (i < n) {
// Greedily pack words into the current line
int lineLen = words[i].length();
int j = i + 1;
while (j < n && lineLen + 1 + words[j].length() <= l) {
lineLen += 1 + words[j].length();
j++;
}
int numWords = j - i;
int totalChars = 0;
for (int k = i; k < j; k++) totalChars += words[k].length();
int numSpaces = l - totalChars;
StringBuilder line = new StringBuilder();
// Last line or single word: left justify with trailing spaces
if (j == n || numWords == 1) {
for (int k = i; k < j; k++) {
if (k > i) line.append(" ");
line.append(words[k]);
}
while (line.length() < l) line.append(" ");
} else {
// Distribute spaces evenly, left gaps get extra if uneven
int gaps = numWords - 1;
int spacePerGap = numSpaces / gaps;
int extra = numSpaces % gaps;
for (int k = i; k < j - 1; k++) {
line.append(words[k]);
int sp = spacePerGap + (k - i < extra ? 1 : 0);
for (int s = 0; s < sp; s++) line.append(" ");
}
line.append(words[j - 1]);
}
result.add(line.toString());
i = j;
}
return result;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
String[] words = {"geeksforgeeks", "is", "the", "best", "computer",
"science", "portal", "for", "geeks"};
int l = 16;
ArrayList<String> ans = justifyText(words, l);
System.out.print("[");
for (int i = 0; i < ans.size(); i++) {
System.out.print("\"" + ans.get(i) + "\"");
if (i!= ans.size() - 1) System.out.print(", ");
}
System.out.println("]");
}
}
def justifyText(words, l):
result = []
i = 0
n = len(words)
while i < n:
# Greedily pack words into the current line
lineLen = len(words[i])
j = i + 1
while j < n and lineLen + 1 + len(words[j]) <= l:
lineLen += 1 + len(words[j])
j += 1
numWords = j - i
totalChars = sum(len(words[k]) for k in range(i, j))
numSpaces = l - totalChars
line = ""
# Last line or single word: left justify with trailing spaces
if j == n or numWords == 1:
line = " ".join(words[i:j])
line += " " * (l - len(line))
else:
# Distribute spaces evenly, left gaps get extra if uneven
gaps = numWords - 1
spacePerGap = numSpaces // gaps
extra = numSpaces % gaps
for k in range(i, j - 1):
line += words[k]
line += " " * (spacePerGap + (1 if k - i < extra else 0))
line += words[j - 1]
result.append(line)
i = j
return result
if __name__ == "__main__":
words = ["geeksforgeeks", "is", "the", "best", "computer",
"science", "portal", "for", "geeks"]
l = 16
ans = justifyText(words, l)
print("[" + ", ".join("\"" + s + "\"" for s in ans) + "]")
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
class GFG {
static List<string> justifyText(string[] words, int l) {
List<string> result = new List<string>();
int i = 0, n = words.Length;
while (i < n) {
// Greedily pack words into the current line
int lineLen = words[i].Length;
int j = i + 1;
while (j < n && lineLen + 1 + words[j].Length <= l) {
lineLen += 1 + words[j].Length;
j++;
}
int numWords = j - i;
int totalChars = 0;
for (int k = i; k < j; k++) totalChars += words[k].Length;
int numSpaces = l - totalChars;
StringBuilder line = new StringBuilder();
// Last line or single word: left justify with trailing spaces
if (j == n || numWords == 1) {
for (int k = i; k < j; k++) {
if (k > i) line.Append(" ");
line.Append(words[k]);
}
while (line.Length < l) line.Append(" ");
} else {
// Distribute spaces evenly, left gaps get extra if uneven
int gaps = numWords - 1;
int spacePerGap = numSpaces / gaps;
int extra = numSpaces % gaps;
for (int k = i; k < j - 1; k++) {
line.Append(words[k]);
int sp = spacePerGap + (k - i < extra ? 1 : 0);
for (int s = 0; s < sp; s++) line.Append(" ");
}
line.Append(words[j - 1]);
}
result.Add(line.ToString());
i = j;
}
return result;
}
static void Main() {
string[] words = {"geeksforgeeks", "is", "the", "best", "computer",
"science", "portal", "for", "geeks"};
int l = 16;
List<string> ans = justifyText(words, l);
Console.Write("[");
for (int i = 0; i < ans.Count; i++) {
Console.Write("\"" + ans[i] + "\"");
if (i != ans.Count - 1) Console.Write(", ");
}
Console.WriteLine("]");
}
}
function justifyText(words, l) {
let result = [];
let i = 0, n = words.length;
while (i < n) {
// Greedily pack words into the current line
let lineLen = words[i].length;
let j = i + 1;
while (j < n && lineLen + 1 + words[j].length <= l) {
lineLen += 1 + words[j].length;
j++;
}
let numWords = j - i;
let totalChars = 0;
for (let k = i; k < j; k++) totalChars += words[k].length;
let numSpaces = l - totalChars;
let line = "";
// Last line or single word: left justify with trailing spaces
if (j === n || numWords === 1) {
for (let k = i; k < j; k++) {
if (k > i) line += " ";
line += words[k];
}
while (line.length < l) line += " ";
} else {
// Distribute spaces evenly, left gaps get extra if uneven
let gaps = numWords - 1;
let spacePerGap = Math.floor(numSpaces / gaps);
let extra = numSpaces % gaps;
for (let k = i; k < j - 1; k++) {
line += words[k];
let sp = spacePerGap + (k - i < extra ? 1 : 0);
for (let s = 0; s < sp; s++) line += " ";
}
line += words[j - 1];
}
result.push(line);
i = j;
}
return result;
}
// driver code
let words = ["geeksforgeeks", "is", "the", "best", "computer",
"science", "portal", "for", "geeks"];
let l = 16;
let ans = justifyText(words, l);
console.log("[" + ans.map(s => "\"" + s + "\"").join(", ") + "]");
Output
["geeksforgeeks is", "the best", "computer science", "portal for geeks"]