>>> def gen(N): ... txt = ['[', ']'] * N ... random.shuffle( txt ) ... return ''.join(txt) ... >>> def balanced(txt): ... braced = 0 ... for ch in txt: ... if ch == '[': braced += 1 ... if ch == ']': ... braced -= 1 ... if braced < 0: return False ... return braced == 0 ... >>> for txt in (gen(N) for N in range(10)): ... print ("%-22r is%s balanced" % (txt, '' if balanced(txt) else ' not')) ... '' is balanced '[]' is balanced '[][]' is balanced '][[[]]' is not balanced '[]][[][]' is not balanced '[][[][]]][' is not balanced '][]][][[]][[' is not balanced '[[]]]]][]][[[[' is not balanced '[[[[]][]]][[][]]' is balanced '][[][[]]][]]][[[[]' is not balanced