Suffix Automaton: When to Use It

Start with the idea

A problem is a good match for Suffix Automaton when it asks for all substrings, repeated substring counts, online text indexing. Here the concrete task is: Return the number of distinct non-empty substrings. The visible input ababa is an example, not a definition of the whole problem. Ask what operations the solution must support and what the input guarantees. Choose it when the required operation sequence, query volume, or substring structure exceeds a simple scan or prefix summary; compare the real time and memory limits first. The right choice follows from those guarantees, not from a familiar noun in the prompt.

The decisive invariant is: Extend one character while cloning states when needed to preserve end-position equivalence classes. Try to say why it applies to the task without quoting the implementation. Which fact becomes known after one update, and which possible answers remain? An advanced structure or offline query order packages an invariant across operations. Name what each node, block, or reordered query state stores. If that claim cannot be maintained on a legal input, the pattern is wrong or one of its preconditions is missing. A counterexample is more useful than a vague warning: change one property of the sample, trace the first two steps, and identify the exact claim that fails.

Compare costs before committing. The advertised bound is O(n) build · O(n) states; identify the operation responsible for it and the extra memory it needs.