Valid Palindrome | AlgoChronicle

Step 1

Know these before you start

Tick what you already know

Concept video

Step 2

Try it on paper

5–10 minutes, no code yet

ProblemProblem statementA phrase is a palindrome if, after converting all uppercase letters to lowercase and removing all non-alphanumeric characters, it reads the same forward and backward. Given a string s, return true if it is a palindrome, or false otherwise.Read

Problem Statement

A phrase is a palindrome if, after converting all uppercase letters to lowercase and removing all non-alphanumeric characters, it reads the same forward and backward. Given a string s, return true if it is a palindrome, or false otherwise.

Imported 2026-10-09 from NeetCode auto-sync (reviewed, dead code removed).

Input / Output

Input:  s = "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama"
Output: true

Input:  s = "race a car"
Output: false

Step 6

Get it accepted

All test cases pass

Step 7

Review it so it sticks

Re-solve from memory after

Solve it yourself before you look

Reading the solution first feels like progress, but it makes the next similar problem — and the interview version — much harder, because you skipped the part where you figure it out. Give it an honest 20–30 minutes. Stuck? Re-read the pattern, watch the concept video, or try the brute force first.

Hidden: approach · solution code · optimal solution

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