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Design Browser History (Forward/Back)

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Steps

setup

Initialize BrowserHistory with homepage

Create the back stack with the homepage 'leetcode.com' as the only node. The forward stack is empty initially.

💡 Initialization sets the starting point for browsing history, ensuring there is always at least one page in the back stack.

Line:

self.back_stack = [homepage]
self.forward_stack = []

💡 The homepage is the base of the back stack and navigation cannot go back beyond it.

class BrowserHistory:
    def __init__(self, homepage: str):
        self.back_stack = [homepage]  # STEP 1
        self.forward_stack = []      # STEP 1

    def visit(self, url: str) -> None:
        self.back_stack.append(url)  # STEP 2,3,4,8
        self.forward_stack.clear()   # STEP 2,3,4,8

    def back(self, steps: int) -> str:
        while steps > 0 and len(self.back_stack) > 1:
            self.forward_stack.append(self.back_stack.pop())  # STEP 5,6,10,11
            steps -= 1
        return self.back_stack[-1]  # STEP 5,6,7,9,10,11

    def forward(self, steps: int) -> str:
        while steps > 0 and self.forward_stack:
            self.back_stack.append(self.forward_stack.pop())  # STEP 7,9
            steps -= 1
        return self.back_stack[-1]  # STEP 7,9

if __name__ == '__main__':
    browserHistory = BrowserHistory("leetcode.com")  # STEP 1
    browserHistory.visit("google.com")               # STEP 2
    browserHistory.visit("facebook.com")             # STEP 3
    browserHistory.visit("youtube.com")              # STEP 4
    print(browserHistory.back(1))                      # STEP 5
    print(browserHistory.back(1))                      # STEP 6
    print(browserHistory.forward(1))                   # STEP 7
    browserHistory.visit("linkedin.com")             # STEP 8
    print(browserHistory.forward(2))                   # STEP 9
    print(browserHistory.back(2))                       # STEP 10
    print(browserHistory.back(7))                       # STEP 11

📊

Design Browser History (Forward/Back) - Watch the Algorithm Execute, Step by Step

Watching each operation step-by-step reveals how the back and forward stacks interact, clarifying the logic behind clearing forward history on visits and limiting back navigation.

Step 1/11

·Active fill★Answer cell

setup

leetcode.com

Design Browser History (Forward/Back)

Initialize BrowserHistory with homepage

Visit 'google.com'

Visit 'facebook.com'

Visit 'youtube.com'

Back 1 step

Back 1 step again

Forward 1 step

Visit 'linkedin.com' after going back and forward

Forward 2 steps (no effect)

Back 2 steps

Back 7 steps (limited by history)

Key Takeaways