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How to Fix Minimum Window Substring Errors

DodaTech Updated 2026-06-26 1 min read

In this tutorial, you'll learn about How to Fix Minimum Window Substring Errors. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices.

Fix minimum window substring errors when character count tracking wrong or window contract condition incorrect.

Quick Fix

Wrong

def minw(s,t):
    need=Counter(t); have=0
    need_len=len(need); res=''
    l=0
    for r,c in enumerate(s):
        if c in need:
            need[c]-=1
            if need[c]==0: have+=1
        while have==need_len:
            if not res or r-l+1<len(res): res=s[l:r+1]
            if s[l] in need:
                if need[s[l]]==0: have-=1
                need[s[l]]+=1
            l+=1
    return res

Must check need[s[l]]==0 before decrementing have. Off-by-one in condition.

from collections import Counter
def minw(s,t):
    need=Counter(t); have=0; need_len=len(need)
    l=0; res=(0,float('inf'))
    for r,c in enumerate(s):
        if c in need:
            need[c]-=1
            if need[c]==0: have+=1
        while have==need_len:
            if r-l+1<res[1]-res[0]+1: res=(l,r)
            if s[l] in need:
                if need[s[l]]==0: have-=1
                need[s[l]]+=1
            l+=1
    return s[res[0]:res[1]+1] if res[1]!=float('inf') else ''
s='ADOBECODEBANC', t='ABC' -> 'BANC'. O(n).

Prevention

Track needed character counts. Expand right until all needed found. Contract left while valid.

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FAQ

What is min window?

Smallest substring containing all characters of target string.

How to track?

Counter for needed characters. 'have' count increases when a char count reaches 0.

Contract condition?

While have==need_len (all chars satisfied), try shrinking from left.

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