counting the same letters in a string but not in all lenght - javascript

I'm starting my adventure with javascript and i got one of first tasks.
I must create function that count letter that most occur in string and write this in console.
For example:
var string = "assssssadaaaAAAasadaaab";
and in console.log should be (7,a) <---
the longest string is 7 consecutive identical characters (yes, before count i use .toLowerCase();, because the task requires it)
So far I have it and I don't know what to do next.
Someone want to help?
var string = "assssssadaaaAAAasadaaab";
var string = string.toLowerCase();
function writeInConsole(){
console.log(string);
var count = (string.match(/a/g) || []).length;
console.log(count);
}
writeInConsole();

One option could be matching all consecutive characters using (.)\1* and sort the result by character length.
Then return an array with the length of the string and the character.
Note that this will take the first longest occurrence in case of multiple characters with the same length.
function writeInConsole(s) {
var m = s.match(/(.)\1*/g);
if (m) {
var res = m.reduce(function(a, b) {
return b.length > a.length ? b : a;
})
return [res.length, res.charAt(0)];
}
return [];
}
["assssssadaaaAAAasadaaab", "a", ""].forEach(s => {
s = s.toLowerCase();
console.log(writeInConsole(s))
});
Another example when you have multiple consecutive characters with the same length
function writeInConsole(s) {
let m = s.match(/(.)\1*/g);
if (m) {
let sorted = m.sort((a, b) => b.length - a.length)
let maxLength = sorted[0].length;
let result = [];
for (let i = 0; i < sorted.length; i++) {
if (sorted[i].length === maxLength) {
result.push([maxLength, sorted[i].charAt(0)]);
continue;
}
break;
}
return result;
}
return [];
}
[
"assssssadaaaAAAasadaaab",
"aaabccc",
"abc",
"yyzzz",
"aa",
""
].forEach(s => {
s = s.toLowerCase();
console.log(writeInConsole(s))
});

I'm no sure if this works for you:
string source = "/once/upon/a/time/";
int count = 0;
foreach (char c in source)
if (c == '/') count++;

The answer given by using regular expressions is more succinct, but since you say you are just starting out with programming, I will offer a verbose one that might be easier to follow.
var string = "assssssadaaaAAAasadaaab";
var string = string.toLowerCase();
function computeLongestRun(s) {
// we set up for the computation at the first character in the string
var longestRunLetter = currentLetter = string[0]
var longestRunLength = currentRunLength = 1
// loop through the string considering one character at a time
for (i = 1; i < s.length; i++) {
if (s[i] == currentLetter) { // is this letter the same as the last one?
currentRunLength++ // if yes, reflect that
} else { // otherwise, check if the current run
// is the longest
if (currentRunLength > longestRunLength) {
longestRunLetter = currentLetter
longestRunLength = currentRunLength
}
// reset to start counting a new run
currentRunLength = 1
currentLetter = s[i]
}
}
return [longestRunLetter, longestRunLength]
}
console.log(computeLongestRun(string))

Related

How do you check two strings in JS and determine if any letters in each is placed in the same letter row?

I have been searching high and low for a solution, but I cannot seem to find one. I am trying to make a function that checks two different strings to identify any words in the same position of each word, and output that as a number. An example:
"sterile"
"meeting"
These two words have an E and an I in the same place. Never mind letters that exist in both, but scrambled (I have a solution for this, but it does not help me I'm afraid). I am trying to build something that outputs 2 for the two letters that do match.
So yeah, how would I get this to work? Code below is the non-working one, that checks for existing letters in both, and not if they match exactly within the words. Maybe I'm seeing something wrong with it?
var str1 = "sterile";
var str2 = "meeting";
function second() {
return Array.prototype.filter.call(str1, function(c) {
return str2.indexOf(c) === -1;
}, this).join('');
}
function second() {
return Array.prototype.filter.call(str1, function(c) {
return str2.indexOf(c) === -1;
}, this).join('');
}
console.log(second(str1, str2));
console.log(str1.length - second(str1, str2).length);
```
Could be optimized and could count for a few edge cases but this might do.
const str1 = 'sterile';
const str2 = 'meetinghey';
function stringEqualityCheck(str1, str2) {
const longestString = str1.length > str2.length ? str1 : str2;
const longestStringArray = longestString.split('');
const shortestString = str1.length > str2.length ? str2 : str1;
let equalityCounter = 0;
shortestString.split('').forEach((letter, index) => {
if (letter === longestStringArray[index]) {
equalityCounter++;
}
});
return equalityCounter;
}
console.log(stringEqualityCheck(str1, str2));
This should do the job :)
const str1 = "sterile";
const str2 = "meetinghey";
const getSameLetters = (a, b) => {
const minLength = Math.min(a.length, b.length);
const sameLetters = []
for (let i = 0; i < minLength; i++) {
if (a[i] === b[i]) {
sameLetters.push({ i, letter: a[i] })
}
}
return sameLetters
}
console.log(getSameLetters(str1, str2))
or the following, if you only care about the number of the same letters:
const str1 = "sterile";
const str2 = "meetinghey";
const getSameLetters = (a, b) => {
const minLength = Math.min(a.length, b.length);
let sameLetters = 0
for (let i = 0; i < minLength; i++) {
if (a[i] === b[i]) {
sameLetters++
}
}
return sameLetters
}
console.log(getSameLetters(str1, str2))
The idea behind those algorithms is this:
Since we only want to find letters that match on the same index in both words, we should iterate only until the end of the smallest word. Because you don't want to compare undefined "char" to a "char" from another string - they will never match. So that's what Math.min(a.length, b.length) finds.
Then we iterate from zero to minLength. On each loop cycle we compare letters on the same index from a and b strings. If letters match, then we increment sameLetters by one, and continue the loop.
Return sameLetters - that's the number we're looking for, the number of the same letter under the same index :)
A short and simple way to accomplish this is by splitting one of the words into an array using split, then iterating over that array using forEach to see if the character at each position is equal to the character at that same position in the other word, and increasing the counter if they are the same.
const str1 = "sterile";
const str2 = "meeting";
checkWords = (a, b) => {
let count = 0;
a.split('').forEach((letter, index) => letter === b[index] ? count++ : '');
return count;
}
console.log(checkWords(str1,str2));

How to match and group strings efficiently in Javascript?

Write a function that returns an integer indicating number of times a group of string "pzmcb" appears in a string in no particualr orther. for example
input string 1 -> "abdpsclmhz"
output 1 -> 1
input string 2 : pzmcbcbpzmpcm
output 2: 2
I have written the code but it is not efficient and cannot handle large input string. I will appreciate it if an efficent way of writing this function can be provided
'use strict';
//pmzcbpmzcbpmz [0 -4] [5 - 9] returns 2
function matchGroup(word) {
let regex = /[pzmcb]/g
let stringArray = word.match(regex);
//console.log(stringArray);
let cloneArray = [...stringArray];
let stored = [];
let searchString = "";
let secondString = "";
let temp = "";
let tempArray = [];
stringArray.forEach(item => {
if (cloneArray.indexOf(item) >= 0 && searchString.indexOf(item) === -1) {
searchString += item;
if (searchString.length === 5) {
stored.push(searchString);
searchString = "";
}
} else if(secondString.indexOf(item) === -1){
secondString += item;
if (secondString.length === 5) {
stored.push(searchString);
secondString = "";
}
}else {
temp += item;
if (temp.length === 5) {
tempArray.push(temp);
temp = "";
}
}
});
return stored.length;
// return integer
}
var paragraph = 'pzmcbpdfbcmz';
let result = matchGroup("abcdefpfklmhgzpzmcbpdfbcmzjklmoplzdsaklmcxheqgexcmpzdhgiwqertyhgdsbnmkjilopazxcsdertijuhgbdmlpoiqarstiguzcmnbgpoimhrwqasfgdhuetiopmngbczxsgreqad");
console.log(result);
I expect that the matchGroup function to return exact integers for large inputs
I'd build up a map of character counts:
function countChars(str) {
const count = {};
for(const char of str) count[char] = (count[char] || 0) + 1;
return count;
}
Now we can easily build up count maps of the string to find and the source:
const toFind = countChars("pzmbc"),
source = countChars("pzmcbpdfbcmz");
Now we can find the smallest relationship of chars to find and chars that are there:
const result = Math.min(
...Object.entries(toFind).map(([char, need]) => Math.floor((source[char] || 0) / need))
);
function countChar(char, string) {
return (string.match(new RegExp(char, "g")) || []).length;
}
function countDistinctSubstring(sub, string) {
firstChars = {};
for (i = 0; i < sub.length; i++) {
if (sub[i] in firstChars)
firstChars[sub[i]]++;
else
firstChars[sub[i]] = 1;
}
return Math.min(...Object.keys(firstChars).map(key => Math.floor(countChar(key, string) / firstChars[key])));
}
> countDistinctSubstring("pzmcb", "abdpsclmhz");
< 1
> countDistinctSubstring("pzmcb", "pzmcbcbpzmpcm");
< 2
> countDistinctSubstring("pzmcbpdfbcmz", "abcdefpfklmhgzpzmcbpdfbcmzjklmoplzdsaklmcxheqgexcmpzdhgiwqertyhgdsbnmkjilopazxcsdertijuhgbdmlpoiqarstiguzcmnbgpoimhrwqasfgdhuetiopmngbczxsgreqad");
< 3
I can't tell for sure, but I think this is what you are looking for. It counts the number of occurrences of each letter in the small string, then finds the minimum ratio of occurrences in the large string to those in the small string for each character. This minimum ratio is the maximum number of distinct times the small string can be composed of letters from the larger one.
Note that this answer was used in making the countChar function.

How make a more concise code using the For statement?

I'm new in StackOverflow and JavaScript, I'm trying to get the first letter that repeats from a string considering both uppercase and lowercase letters and counting and obtaining results using the for statement. The problem is that the form I used is too long Analyzing the situation reaches such a point that maybe you can only use a "For" statement for this exercise, which I get to iterate, but not with a cleaner and reduced code has me completely blocked, this is the reason why I request help to understand and continue with the understanding and use of this sentence. In this case, the result was tested in a JavaScript script inside a function and 3 "For" sentences obtaining quite positive results, but I can not create it in 1 only For (Sorry for my bad english google translate)
I making in HTML with JavasScript
var letter = "SYAHSVCXCyXSssssssyBxAVMZsXhZV";
var contendor = [];
var calc = [];
var mycalc = 0;
letter = letter.toUpperCase()
console.log(letter)
function repeats(){
for (var i = 0; i < letter.length; i++) {
if (contendor.includes(letter[i])) {
}else{
contendor.push(letter[i])
calc.push(0)
}
}
for (var p = 0; p < letter.length; p++) {
for (var l = 0; l < contendor.length; l++) {
if (letter[p] == contendor[l]) {
calc [l]= calc [l]+1
}
}
}
for (var f = 0; f < calc.length; f++) {
if ( calc[f] > calc[mycalc]) {
mycalc = f
}
}
}
repeats()
console.log("The most repeated letter its: " + contendor[mycalc]);
I Expected: A result with concise code
It would probably be a lot more concise to use a regular expression: match a character, then lookahead for more characters until you can match that first character again:
var letter = "SYAHSVCXCyXSssssssyBxAVMZsXhZV";
const firstRepeatedRegex = /(.)(?=.*\1)/;
console.log(letter.match(firstRepeatedRegex)[1]);
Of course, if you aren't sure whether a given string contains a repeated character, check that the match isn't null before trying to extract the character:
const input = 'abcde';
const firstRepeatedRegex = /(.)(?=.*\1)/;
const match = input.match(firstRepeatedRegex);
if (match) {
console.log(match[0]);
} else {
console.log('No repeated characters');
}
You could also turn the input into an array and use .find to find the first character whose lastIndexOf is not the same as the index of the character being iterated over:
const getFirstRepeatedCharacter = (str) => {
const chars = [...str];
const char = chars.find((char, i) => chars.lastIndexOf(char) !== i);
return char || 'No repeated characters';
};
console.log(getFirstRepeatedCharacter('abcde'));
console.log(getFirstRepeatedCharacter('SYAHSVCXCyXSssssssyBxAVMZsXhZV'));
If what you're actually looking for is the character that occurs most often, case-insensitive, use reduce to transform the string into an object indexed by character, whose values are the number of occurrences of that character, then identify the largest value:
const getMostRepeatedCharacter = (str) => {
const charsByCount = [...str.toUpperCase()].reduce((a, char) => {
a[char] = (a[char] || 0) + 1;
return a;
}, {});
const mostRepeatedEntry = Object.entries(charsByCount).reduce((a, b) => a[1] >= b[1] ? a : b);
return mostRepeatedEntry[0];
};
console.log(getMostRepeatedCharacter('abcde'));
console.log(getMostRepeatedCharacter('SYAHSVCXCyXSssssssyBxAVMZsXhZV'));
If the first repeated character is what you want, you can push it into an array and check if the character already exists
function getFirstRepeating( str ){
chars = []
for ( var i = 0; i < str.length; i++){
var char = str.charAt(i);
if ( chars.includes( char ) ){
return char;
} else {
chars.push( char );
}
}
return -1;
}
This will return the first repeating character if it exists, or will return -1.
Working
function getFirstRepeating( str ){
chars = []
for ( var i = 0; i < str.length; i++){
var char = str.charAt(i);
if ( chars.includes( char ) ){
return char;
} else {
chars.push( char );
}
}
return -1;
}
console.log(getFirstRepeating("SYAHSVCXCyXSssssssyBxAVMZsXhZV"))
Have you worked with JavaScript objects yet?
You should look into it.
When you loop through your string
let characters = "hemdhdksksbbd";
let charCount = {};
let max = { count: 0, ch: ""}; // will contain max
// rep letter
//Turn string into an array of letters and for
// each letter create a key in the charcount
// object , set it to 1 (meaning that's the first of
// that letter you've found) and any other time
// you see the letter, increment by 1.
characters.split("").forEach(function(character)
{
if(!charCount[character])
charCount[character] = 1;
else
charCount[character]++;
}
//charCount should now contain letters and
// their counts.
//Get the letters from charCount and find the
// max count
Object.keys(charCount). forEach (function(ch){
if(max.count < charCount[ch])
max = { count: charCount[ch], ch: ch};
}
console.log("most reps is: " , max.ch);
This is a pretty terrible solution. It takes 2 loops (reduce) and doesn't handle ties, but it's short and complicated.
Basically keep turning the results into arrays and use array methods split and reduce to find the answer. The first reduce is wrapped in Object.entries() to turn the object back into an array.
let letter = Object.entries(
"SYAHSVCXCyXSssssssyBxAVMZsXhZV".
toUpperCase().
split('').
reduce((p, c) => {
p[c] = isNaN(++p[c]) ? 1 : p[c];
return p;
}, {})
).
reduce((p, c) => p = c[1] > p[1] ? c : p);
console.log(`The most repeated letter is ${letter[0]}, ${letter[1]} times.`);

Removing zeros after comma based on maximum consequent zeros

I have a page with a grid where user's numbers get saved. It has a following pattern - every number ends with 3 digits after comma. It doesn't look nice, when for example user's input is
123,450
123,670
123,890
It's much better to have just 2 numbers after comma, because last 0 is absolutely meaningless and redundant.
The way it still should have 3 digits is only if at least one element in an array doesn't end up with 0
For example:
123,455
123,450
123,560
In this case 1st element of the array has the last digit not equal to 0 and hence all the elements should have 3 digits. The same story with 2 or 1 zeros
Zeros are redundant:
123,30
123,40
123,50
Zeros are necessary:
123,35
123,40
123,50
The question is how can I implement it programatically? I've started like this:
var zeros2Remove = 0;
numInArray.forEach(function(item, index, numInArray)
{
var threeDigitsAfterComma = item.substring(item.indexOf(',') + 1);
for(var j = 2; j <= 0; j--)
{
if(threeDigitsAfterComma[j] == 0)
{
zeros2Remove =+ 1;
}
else //have no idea what to do..
}
})
Well in my implementation I don't know how to do it since I have to iterate through every element but break it if at least 1 number has a last digit equal to zero.. In order to do that I have to break outer loop, but don't know how and I'm absolutely sure that I don't have to...
I think the following code what you are looking for exactly , please manipulate numbers and see the changes :
var arr = ["111.3030", "2232.0022", "3.001000", "4","558.0200","55.00003000000"];
var map = arr.map(function(a) {
if (a % 1 === 0) {
var res = "1";
} else {
var lastNumman = a.toString().split('').pop();
if (lastNumman == 0) {
var m = parseFloat(a);
var res = (m + "").split(".")[1].length;
} else {
var m = a.split(".")[1].length;
var res = m;
}
}
return res;
})
var maxNum = map.reduce(function(a, b) {
return Math.max(a, b);
});
arr.forEach(function(el) {
console.log(Number.parseFloat(el).toFixed(maxNum));
});
According to MDN,
There is no way to stop or break a forEach() loop other than by throwing an exception. If you need such behavior, the forEach() method is the wrong tool. Use a plain loop or for...of instead.
If you convert your forEach loop to a for loop, you can break out of it with a label and break statement:
// unrelated example
let i;
let j;
outerLoop:
for (i = 2; i < 100; ++i) {
innerLoop:
for (j = 2; j < 100; ++j) {
// brute-force prime factorization
if (i * j === 2183) { break outerLoop; }
}
}
console.log(i, j);
I gave you an unrelated example because your problem doesn't need nested loops at all. You can find the number of trailing zeroes in a string with a regular expression:
function getTrailingZeroes (str) {
return str.match(/0{0,2}$/)[0].length;
}
str.match(/0{0,2}$/) finds between 0 and 2 zeroes at the end of str and returns them as a string in a one-element array. The length of that string is the number of characters you can remove from str. You can make one pass over your array of number-strings, breaking out when necessary, and use Array.map as a separate truncation loop:
function getShortenedNumbers (numInArray) {
let zeroesToRemove = Infinity;
for (const str of numInArray) {
let candidate = getTrailingZeroes(str);
zeroesToRemove = Math.min(zeroesToRemove, candidate);
if (zeroesToRemove === 0) break;
}
return numInArray.map(str => str.substring(0, str.length - zeroesToRemove);
}
All together:
function getTrailingZeroes (str) {
return str.match(/0{0,2}$/)[0].length;
}
function getShortenedNumbers (numInArray) {
let zeroesToRemove = Infinity;
for (const str of numInArray) {
let candidate = getTrailingZeroes(str);
zeroesToRemove = Math.min(zeroesToRemove, candidate);
if (zeroesToRemove === 0) break;
}
return numInArray.map(str => str.substring(0, str.length - zeroesToRemove));
}
console.log(getShortenedNumbers(['123,450', '123,670', '123,890']));
console.log(getShortenedNumbers(['123,455', '123,450', '123,560']));
This solution might seem a little cumbersome but it should work for all possible scenarios. It should be easy enough to make always return a minimal number of decimals places/leading zeros.
I hope it helps.
// Define any array
const firstArray = [
'123,4350',
'123,64470',
'123,8112390',
]
const oneOfOfYourArrays = [
'123,30',
'123,40',
'123,50',
]
// Converts 123,45 to 123.45
function stringNumberToFloat(stringNumber) {
return parseFloat(stringNumber.replace(',', '.'))
}
// For 123.45 you get 2
function getNumberOfDecimals(number) {
return number.split('.')[1].length;
}
// This is a hacky way how to remove traling zeros
function removeTralingZeros(stringNumber) {
return stringNumberToFloat(stringNumber).toString()
}
// Sorts numbers in array by number of their decimals
function byNumberOfValidDecimals(a, b) {
const decimalsA = getNumberOfDecimals(a)
const decimalsB = getNumberOfDecimals(b)
return decimalsB - decimalsA
}
// THIS IS THE FINAL SOLUTION
function normalizeDecimalPlaces(targetArray) {
const processedArray = targetArray
.map(removeTralingZeros) // We want to remove trailing zeros
.sort(byNumberOfValidDecimals) // Sort from highest to lowest by number of valid decimals
const maxNumberOfDecimals = processedArray[0].split('.')[1].length
return targetArray.map((stringNumber) => stringNumberToFloat(stringNumber).toFixed(maxNumberOfDecimals))
}
console.log('normalizedFirstArray', normalizeDecimalPlaces(firstArray))
console.log('normalizedOneOfOfYourArrays', normalizeDecimalPlaces(oneOfOfYourArrays))
Try this
function removeZeros(group) {
var maxLength = 0;
var newGroup = [];
for(var x in group) {
var str = group[x].toString().split('.')[1];
if(str.length > maxLength) maxLength = str.length;
}
for(var y in group) {
var str = group[y].toString();
var substr = str.split('.')[1];
if(substr.length < maxLength) {
for(var i = 0; i < (maxLength - substr.length); i++)
str += '0';
}
newGroup.push(str);
}
return newGroup;
}
Try it on jsfiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/32sdvzn1/1/
My script checks the length of every number decimal part, remember that JavaScript removes the last zeros in a decimal number, so 3.10 would be 3.1, so the length is less when there is a number with zeros in the end, in this case we just add a zero to the number.
Update
I've updated the script, the new version adds as much zeros as the different between the max decimal length and the decimal length of the analyzed number.
Example
We have: 3.11, 3.1423, 3.1
The max length would be: 4 (1423)
maxLenght (4) - length of .11 (2) = 2
We add 2 zeros to 3.11, that will become 3.1100
I think you can start out assuming you will remove two extra zeros, and loop through your array looking for digits in the last two places. With the commas, I'm assuming your numArray elements are strings, all starting with the same length.
var numArray = ['123,000', '456,100', '789,110'];
var removeTwo = true, removeOne = true;
for (var i = 0; i < numArray.length; i++) {
if (numArray[i][6] !== '0') { removeTwo = false; removeOne = false; }
if (numArray[i][5] !== '0') { removeTwo = false; }
}
// now loop to do the actual removal
for (var i = 0; i < numArray.length; i++) {
if (removeTwo) {
numArray[i] = numArray[i].substr(0, 5);
} else if (removeOne) {
numArray[i] = numArray[i].substr(0, 6);
}
}

Find smallest substring containing a given set of letters in a larger string

Say you have the following string:
FJKAUNOJDCUTCRHBYDLXKEODVBWTYPTSHASQQFCPRMLDXIJMYPVOHBDUGSMBLMVUMMZYHULSUIZIMZTICQORLNTOVKVAMQTKHVRIFMNTSLYGHEHFAHWWATLYAPEXTHEPKJUGDVWUDDPRQLUZMSZOJPSIKAIHLTONYXAULECXXKWFQOIKELWOHRVRUCXIAASKHMWTMAJEWGEESLWRTQKVHRRCDYXNT
LDSUPXMQTQDFAQAPYBGXPOLOCLFQNGNKPKOBHZWHRXAWAWJKMTJSLDLNHMUGVVOPSAMRUJEYUOBPFNEHPZZCLPNZKWMTCXERPZRFKSXVEZTYCXFRHRGEITWHRRYPWSVAYBUHCERJXDCYAVICPTNBGIODLYLMEYLISEYNXNMCDPJJRCTLYNFMJZQNCLAGHUDVLYIGASGXSZYPZKLAWQUDVNTWGFFY
FFSMQWUNUPZRJMTHACFELGHDZEJWFDWVPYOZEVEJKQWHQAHOCIYWGVLPSHFESCGEUCJGYLGDWPIWIDWZZXRUFXERABQJOXZALQOCSAYBRHXQQGUDADYSORTYZQPWGMBLNAQOFODSNXSZFURUNPMZGHTAJUJROIGMRKIZHSFUSKIZJJTLGOEEPBMIXISDHOAIFNFEKKSLEXSJLSGLCYYFEQBKIZZTQQ
XBQZAPXAAIFQEIXELQEZGFEPCKFPGXULLAHXTSRXDEMKFKABUTAABSLNQBNMXNEPODPGAORYJXCHCGKECLJVRBPRLHORREEIZOBSHDSCETTTNFTSMQPQIJBLKNZDMXOTRBNMTKHHCZQQMSLOAXJQKRHDGZVGITHYGVDXRTVBJEAHYBYRYKJAVXPOKHFFMEPHAGFOOPFNKQAUGYLVPWUJUPCUGGIXGR
AMELUTEPYILBIUOCKKUUBJROQFTXMZRLXBAMHSDTEKRRIKZUFNLGTQAEUINMBPYTWXULQNIIRXHHGQDPENXAJNWXULFBNKBRINUMTRBFWBYVNKNKDFR
I'm trying to find the smallest substring containing the letters ABCDA.
I tried a regex approach.
console.log(str.match(/[A].*?[B].*?[C].*?[D].*?[A]/gm).sort((a, b) => a.length - b.length)[0]);
This works, but it only find strings where ABCDA appear (in that order). Meaning it won't find substring where the letters appear in a order like this: BCDAA
I'm trying to change my regex to account for this. How would I do that without using | and type out all the different cases?
You can't.
Let's consider a special case: Assume the letters you are looking for are A, A, and B. At some point in your regexp there will certainly be a B. However, the parts to the left and to the right of the B are independent of each other, so you cannot refer from one to the other. How many As are matched in the subexpression to the right of the B depends on the number of As being already matched in the left part. This is not possible with regular expressions, so you will have to unfold all the different orders, which can be many!
Another popular example that illustrates the problem is to match opening brackets with closing brackets. It's not possible to write a regular expression asserting that in a given string a sequence of opening brackets is followed by a sequence of closing brackets of the same length. The reason for this is that to count the brackets you would need a stack machine in contrast to a finite state machine but regular expressions are limited to patterns that can be matched using FSMs.
This algorithm doesn't use a regex, but found both solutions as well.
var haystack = 'FJKAUNOJDCUTCRHBYDLXKEODVBWTYPTSHASQQFCPRMLDXIJMYPVOHBDUGSMBLMVUMMZYHULSUIZIMZTICQORLNTOVKVAMQTKHVRIFMNTSLYGHEHFAHWWATLYAPEXTHEPKJUGDVWUDDPRQLUZMSZOJPSIKAIHLTONYXAULECXXKWFQOIKELWOHRVRUCXIAASKHMWTMAJEWGEESLWRTQKVHRRCDYXNTLDSUPXMQTQDFAQAPYBGXPOLOCLFQNGNKPKOBHZWHRXAWAWJKMTJSLDLNHMUGVVOPSAMRUJEYUOBPFNEHPZZCLPNZKWMTCXERPZRFKSXVEZTYCXFRHRGEITWHRRYPWSVAYBUHCERJXDCYAVICPTNBGIODLYLMEYLISEYNXNMCDPJJRCTLYNFMJZQNCLAGHUDVLYIGASGXSZYPZKLAWQUDVNTWGFFYFFSMQWUNUPZRJMTHACFELGHDZEJWFDWVPYOZEVEJKQWHQAHOCIYWGVLPSHFESCGEUCJGYLGDWPIWIDWZZXRUFXERABQJOXZALQOCSAYBRHXQQGUDADYSORTYZQPWGMBLNAQOFODSNXSZFURUNPMZGHTAJUJROIGMRKIZHSFUSKIZJJTLGOEEPBMIXISDHOAIFNFEKKSLEXSJLSGLCYYFEQBKIZZTQQXBQZAPXAAIFQEIXELQEZGFEPCKFPGXULLAHXTSRXDEMKFKABUTAABSLNQBNMXNEPODPGAORYJXCHCGKECLJVRBPRLHORREEIZOBSHDSCETTTNFTSMQPQIJBLKNZDMXOTRBNMTKHHCZQQMSLOAXJQKRHDGZVGITHYGVDXRTVBJEAHYBYRYKJAVXPOKHFFMEPHAGFOOPFNKQAUGYLVPWUJUPCUGGIXGRAMELUTEPYILBIUOCKKUUBJROQFTXMZRLXBAMHSDTEKRRIKZUFNLGTQAEUINMBPYTWXULQNIIRXHHGQDPENXAJNWXULFBNKBRINUMTRBFWBYVNKNKDFR';
var needle = 'ABCDA'; // the order of letters doesn't matter
var letters = {};
needle.split('').forEach(function(ch) {
letters[ch] = letters[ch] || 0;
letters[ch]++;
});
var shortestSubstringLength = haystack.length;
var shortestSubstrings = []; // storage for found substrings
var startingPos = 0;
var length;
var currentPos;
var notFound;
var letterKeys = Object.keys(letters); // unique leters
do {
lettersLeft = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(letters)); // copy letters count object
notFound = false;
posStart = haystack.length;
posEnd = 0;
letterKeys.forEach(function(ch) {
currentPos = startingPos;
while (!notFound && lettersLeft[ch] > 0) {
currentPos = haystack.indexOf(ch, currentPos);
if (currentPos >= 0) {
lettersLeft[ch]--;
posStart = Math.min(currentPos, posStart);
posEnd = Math.max(currentPos, posEnd);
currentPos++;
} else {
notFound = true;
}
}
});
if (!notFound) {
length = posEnd - posStart + 1;
startingPos = posStart + 1; // starting position for next iteration
}
if (!notFound && length === shortestSubstringLength) {
shortestSubstrings.push(haystack.substr(posStart, length));
}
if (!notFound && length < shortestSubstringLength) {
shortestSubstrings = [haystack.substr(posStart, length)];
shortestSubstringLength = length;
}
} while (!notFound);
console.log(shortestSubstrings);
Maybe not as clear as using regex could be (well, for me regex are never really clear :D ) you can use brute force (not so brute)
Create an index of "valid" points of your string (those with the letters you want) and iterate with a double loop over it getting substrings containing at least 5 of those points, checking that they are valid solutions. Maybe not the most efficient way, but easy to implement, to understand, and probably to optimize.
var haystack="UGDVWUDDPRQLUZMSZOJPSIKAIHLTONYXAULECXXKWFQOIKELWOHRVRUCXIAASKHMWTMAJEWGEESLWRTQKVHRRCDYXNTLDSUPXMQTQDFAQAPYBGXPOLOCLFQNGNKPKOBHZWHRXAWAWJKMTJSLDLNHMUGVVOPSAMRUJEYUOBPFNEHPZZCLPNZKWMTCXERPZRFKSXVEZTYCXFRHRGEITWHRRYPWSVAYBUHCERJXDCYAVICPTNBGIODLYLMEYLISEYNXNMCDPJJRCTLYNFMJZQNCLAGHUDVLYIGASGXSZYPZKLAWQUDVNTWGFFYFFSMQWUNUPZRJMTHACFELGHDZEJWFDWVPYOZEVEJKQWHQAHOCIYWGVLPSHFESCGEUCJGYLGDWPIWIDWZZXRUFXERABQJOXZALQOCSAYBRHXQQGUDADYSORTYZQPWGMBLNAQOFODSNXSZFURUNPMZGHTAJUJROIGMRKIZHSFUSKIZJJTLGOEEPBMIXISDHOAIFNFEKKSLEXSJLSGLCYYFEQBKIZZTQQXBQZAPXAAIFQEIXELQEZGFEPCKFPGXULLAHXTSRXDEMKFKABUTAABSLNQBNMXNEPODPGAORYJXCHCGKECLJVRBPRLHORREEIZOBSHDSCETTTNFTSMQPQIJBLKNZDMXOTRBNMTKHHCZQQMSLOAXJQKRHDGZVGITHYGVDXRTVBJEAHYBYRYKJAVXPOKHFFMEPHAGFOOPFNKQAUGYLVPWUJUPCUGGIXGR";
var needle="ABCD";
var size=haystack.length;
var candidate_substring="";
var minimal_length=size;
var solutions=new Array();
var points=Array();
for(var i=0;i<size;i++){
if(needle.indexOf(haystack[i])>-1) points.push(i);
}
var limit_i= points.length-4;
var limit_k= points.length;
for (var i=0;i<limit_i;i++){
for(var k=i;k<limit_k;k++){
if(points[k]-points[i]+1<=minimal_length){
candidate_substring=haystack.substr(points[i],points[k]-points[i]+1);
if(is_valid(candidate_substring)){
solutions.push(candidate_substring);
if(candidate_substring.length < minimal_length) minimal_length=candidate_substring.length;
}
}
}
}
document.write('<p>Solution length:'+minimal_length+'<p>');
for(var i=0;i<solutions.length;i++){
if(solutions[i].length<=minimal_length) document.write('<p>Solution:'+solutions[i]+'<p>');
}
function is_valid(candidate_substring){
//verify we've got all characters
for(var j=0;j<candidate_substring.length;j++){
if(candidate_substring.indexOf(needle.charAt(j))<0) return false;
}
//...and verify we have two "A"
if(candidate_substring.indexOf("A")==candidate_substring.lastIndexOf("A")) return false;
return true;
}
Just had this problem in an interview as a coding assignment and came up with another solution, (it's not as optimal as the one above but maybe it's easier to understand).
function MinWindowSubstring(strArr) {
const N = strArr[0];
const K = strArr[1];
const letters = {};
K.split('').forEach( (character) => {
letters[character] = letters[character] ? letters[character] + 1 : 1;
});
let possibleSequencesList = [];
const letterKeys = Object.keys(letters);
for(let i=0; i< N.length; i++) {
const char = N[i];
if (new String(letterKeys).indexOf(char) !== -1) {
// found a character in the string
// update all previus sequences
possibleSequencesList.forEach((seq) => {
if(!seq.sequenceComplete) {
seq[char] = seq[char]-1;
seq.lastIndex = i;
// check if sequence is complete
var sequenceComplete = true;
letterKeys.forEach( (letter) => {
if(seq[letter] > 0) {
sequenceComplete = false;
}
});
seq.sequenceComplete = sequenceComplete
}
})
// create a new sequence starting from it
const newSeq = {
startPoint: i,
lastIndex: i,
sequenceComplete: false,
...letters
}
newSeq[char] = newSeq[char]-1;
possibleSequencesList.push(newSeq);
}
}
// cleanup sequences
let sequencesList = possibleSequencesList.filter(sequence => sequence.sequenceComplete);
let output = [];
let minLength = N.length;
// find the smalles one
sequencesList.forEach( seq => {
if( (seq.lastIndex - seq.startPoint) < minLength) {
minLength = seq.lastIndex - seq.startPoint;
output = N.substring(seq.startPoint, seq.lastIndex + 1);
}
})
return output;
}

Categories