Develop Reference

Speed up the comparison time of two strings

The task is to write the logic of checking the magnitude of the coincidence of the player's attempt with the hidden word.
More formally, let there be a string S — a hidden word and a string Q — a player's attempt.
Both strings have the same length N. For each position 1 ≤ i ≤ N of string Q, we need to calculate the type of match in this position with string S.
If Q[i] = S[i], then at position i the match type should be equal to "correct".
If Q[i]≠S[i], but there is another position 1 ≤ j≤ N such that Q[i] = S[j], then in position i the match type must be equal to "present".
Each letter of the string S can be used in no more than one match of
the type "correct" or "present".
Priority is always given to the "correct" type.
Of all possible use cases in the "present" type, the program selects
the leftmost position in the Q string.
In other positions, the match type must be equal to "absent".
Input format:
The first line contains the string S (1≤ S ≤ 10^6) — the hidden word.
The second line contains the string Q ( Q = S) — the player's attempt.
It is guaranteed that the strings S and Q contain only uppercase Latin letters.
Example:
input:
COVER
CLEAR
output:
correct
absent
present
absent
correct
My program does this very slowly, how can I speed it up?
import java.util.*;
public class Task1 {
private final static String cor = "correct";
private final static String abs = "absent";
private final static String pre = "present";
static String[] stringArr;
static java.util.Map<Integer, Integer> map = new HashMap<>();
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
String a = sc.nextLine();
String b = sc.nextLine();
stringArr = new String[a.length()];
int length1 = a.length();
char[] arr1 = a.toCharArray();
char[] arr2 = b.toCharArray();
for (int i = 0; i < length1; i++) {
if (arr2[i] == arr1[i]) {
stringArr[i] = cor;
map.put(i, i);
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < length1; i++) {
if (arr2[i] != arr1[i]) {
while (stringArr[i] == null) {
boolean finded = false;
for (int j = 0; j < arr1.length; j++) {
if (arr2[i] == arr1[j] && !map.containsKey(j)) {
stringArr[i] = pre;
finded = true;
map.put(j, j);
break;
}
}
if (!finded) stringArr[i] = abs;
}
}
}
for (String s : stringArr) {
System.out.println(s);
}
}
}

You can use an int array (or a HashMap<Char, Integer>) count to store those "presented" characters.
We need two for loops. The first loop will set all "correct" positions (if arr1[i] == arr2[i], then stringArr[i] = cor); and for those unmatched positions (arr1[i] != arr2[i]), we count the number of occurrences for those characters in the hidden word (count[arr1[i] - 'A']++).
Then in the second for loop, we check those unmatched positions with the help of count.
If count[arr2[i] - 'A'] > 0, it means that the hidden word contains the character arr2[i], so we can set stringArr[i] = pre and decrement count[arr2[i] - 'A'] (since each letter can be used once)
Otherwise, there's no matching letter in the hidden word, stringArr[i] should be set to abs.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class Task1 {
private final static String cor = "correct";
private final static String abs = "absent";
private final static String pre = "present";
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
String a = sc.nextLine();
String b = sc.nextLine();
String[] stringArr = new String[a.length()];
int length1 = a.length();
char[] arr1 = a.toCharArray();
char[] arr2 = b.toCharArray();
int[] count = new int[26];
for (int i = 0; i < length1; i++) {
if (arr2[i] == arr1[i]) {
stringArr[i] = cor;
}
else {
count[arr1[i] - 'A']++;
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < length1; i++) {
if (arr1[i] != arr2[i]) {
if (count[arr2[i] - 'A'] > 0) {
stringArr[i] = pre;
count[arr2[i] - 'A']--;
}
else {
stringArr[i] = abs;
}
}
}
for (String s : stringArr) {
System.out.println(s);
}
}
}

This can be done using hashmaps and taking advantage of the o(1) insert/delete time.
I'm assuming that each word is exactly the same length. Consequently, to get the answer, we need to check each letter in each word. If they have a length of n, then that means at a minimum it will take o(2n) == o(n) to find the answer.
[1] Then, if you're able to use extra space, I would just use a hashmap as an index, where the key is a character in secret, and the value is the set of indices that letter occurs in secret. So it would look something like this:
//cover
c:<0>
o:<1>
etx...
[2] Then check each letter in guess against the index.
If there is no key for a letter, the put absent
If there is a key, then look in the set of indices to see if there is a matching index. Since I used a hashset, that's another o(1) lookup
So sum total, you walk through secret and guess once each which is o(n) runtime. That, plus o(1) for each index lookup produces o(n) runtime.
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.HashSet;
public class Task1 {
public static void main(String[] args)
{
ArrayList<String> res = solve("COVER", "CLEAR");
System.out.println(res);
}
public static ArrayList<String> solve(String secret, String guess){
ArrayList<String> result = new ArrayList<>();
HashMap<Character, HashSet<Integer>> index = new HashMap<>();
//shortcut
if(secret.equals(guess)){
for(int i = 0; i < secret.length(); i++) result.add("correct");
return result;
}
//make the index of char:<indices> for the chars in "secret"
for(int i = 0; i < secret.length(); i++){
char c = secret.charAt(i);
HashSet<Integer> bucket = index.get(c);
if(bucket == null){
bucket = new HashSet<>();
index.put(c, bucket);
}
bucket.add(i);
}
//check each char in "guess" against the index and tally the result
for(int i = 0; i < guess.length(); i++){
char c = guess.charAt(i);
HashSet<Integer> bucket = index.get(c);
if(bucket == null) result.add("absent");
else if(bucket.contains(i)) result.add("correct");
else result.add("present");
}
return result;
}
}

Is there any way to sort the digits of an Integer without any ARRAY in JAVA?

I am trying to sort the digits of an Integer in descending order in JAVA but I am not allowed to use any array.
This was given to me as an assignment in class and below is a code that I tried but failed.
import java.util.Scanner;
class descend
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
int a=0,loc=0,parse=0,temp=0,big=0;
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Enter a number");
a=scan.nextInt();
String s=Integer.toString(a);
int l=s.length();
for(int i=0;i<l;i++)
{
big=(int)(s.charAt(i));
loc=i;
for(int j=i+1;j<l;j++)
{
parse=(int)(s.charAt(j));
if(parse>big)
{
big = parse;
loc=j;
}
}
temp=parse;
s.charAt(i)=s.charAt(loc);
s.charAt(loc)=temp
}
System.out.print(s);
}
}
Here I get a syntax error at s.charAt(i)=s.charAt(loc); and s.charAt(loc)=temp; that a variable is required but a value is given.
Please help me out with this and I shall always be grateful to you.

Maybe the teacher want to test your knowledge about the new stream API. Or maybe he wants you to test your knowledge about Collections.sort() and LinkedList (which does not contain an internal array).
1.) Here is a solution with stream API:
int number = 52214;
String.valueOf(number).chars()
.sorted()
.map(Character::getNumericValue).forEach(System.out::print);
This will print out:
12245
2.) Here is a solution with collections:
List<Integer> list = new LinkedList<Integer>();
StringCharacterIterator iterator = new StringCharacterIterator(String.valueOf(number));
for (char c = iterator.first(); c != CharacterIterator.DONE; c = iterator.next())
{
list.add(Character.getNumericValue(c));
}
Collections.sort(list);
System.out.println("list=" + list);
This will print out:
list=[1, 2, 2, 4, 5]

String cannot be changed, only replaced, hence a = b; f(b); will never change a.
With 10 digits only, you could iterate, step through, from 0 upto 9 to have the sorting:
int number = ... // or String number
if (number == 0) { // or < 10
System.out.println(number);
} else {
for (int digit = 0; digit <= 9; ++digit) {
// While being able to remove the current digit:
for (;;) {
int scrapedNumber = numberWithoutDigitOnce(number, digit);
if (scrapedNumber == number) {
break;
}
number = scrapedNumber;
System.out.print(digit);
}
}
System.out.println();
}
int numberWithoutDigitOnce(int number, int digit) {
if (number % 10 == digit) {
return number / 10;
}
int n = numberWithoutDigitOnce(number/10, digit)*10 + (number % 10);
}
Zero is a special case.

A recursive solution, you find the highest digit in the String, add it to your output String, and remove it from your input String.
Repeat until your input String is empty.
Removing the character at a given index in a String can be achieve by concatenating the characters before the index and the ones after the index. (Or with a StringBuilder but I agree with the comments on the OP that it would be cheating to use a StringBuilder)
private static String sort(String digitsLeftToSort, String sortedString) {
if(digitsLeftToSort.length() == 0) { // no more character to sort
return sortedString;
} else {
// find the index of the highest digit
int index = findIndexOfHighestDigit(digitsLeftToSort);
// add the character at that index to your output String
sortedString += digitsLeftToSort.charAt(index);
// Remove it from your input String
digitsLeftToSort = digitsLeftToSort.substring(0, index) + digitsLeftToSort.substring(index+1);
// Recursive call with your new Strings
return sort(digitsLeftToSort, sortedString);
}
}
// This finds the index of the highest digit in the given String
private static int findIndexOfHighestDigit(String s) {
int highestDigitValue = -1;
int highestDigitIndex = -1;
int integerValue;
for(int i = 0; i< s.length(); i++) {
integerValue = Character.getNumericValue(s.charAt(i));
if(integerValue > highestDigitValue) {
highestDigitValue = integerValue;
highestDigitIndex = i;
}
}
return highestDigitIndex;
}
Then
String sortedString = sort("462375623478142", "");
System.out.println(sortedString);
Outputs
877665444332221

Sorry, But after applying so much effort, I figured it out.
int n=54321;char ch;
String s=Integer.toString(n);
int l= s.length();
for(int i=48;i<=57;i++) //ascii values from 0 - 9
{
for(int j=0;j<l;j++)
{
ch=s.charAt(j);
if(ch==(char)i) // checking if a digit equals a number
{
System.out.print(ch);
}
}
}
It sorts the digits in ascending order. To sort in descending order we should use
for(int i=57;i>=48;i--)

Maximum repeated String in an array

The problem is
how to get the maximum repeated String in an array using only operations on the arrays in java?
so i got into this question in a test and couldn't figure it out.
lets suppose we have an array of string.
str1[] = { "abbey", "bob", "caley", "caley", "zeeman", "abbey", "bob", "abbey" }
str2[] = { "abbey", "bob", "caley", "caley", "zeeman", "abbey", "bob", "abbey", "caley" }
in str1 abbey was maximum repeated, so abbey should be returned and
in str2 abbey and caley both have same number of repetitions and hence we take maximum alphabet as the winner and is returned(caley here).
c > a
so i tried till
import java.util.*;
public class test {
static String highestRepeated(String[] str) {
int n = str.length, num = 0;
String temp;
String str2[] = new String[n / 2];
for (int k = 0;k < n; k++) { // outer comparision
for (int l = k + 1; l < n; l++) { // inner comparision
if (str[k].equals(str[l])) {
// if matched, increase count
num++;
}
}
// I'm stuck here
}
return result;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("enter how many votes");
int n = sc.nextInt();
String[] str = new String[n];
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
Str[i] = sc.nextLine();
}
String res = highestRepeated(str);
System.out.println(res + " is the winner");
}
}
so, how should i take the count of occurrence of each string with and attach it with the string itself.
All this, without using a map and any hashing but just by using arrays?

Here is a (unpolished) solution:
static String highestRepeated(String[] str) {
String[] sorted = Arrays.copyOf(str, str.length);
Arrays.sort(sorted, 0, sorted.length, Comparator.reverseOrder());
String currentString = sorted[0];
String bestString = sorted[0];
int maxCount = 1;
int currentCount = 1;
for (int i = 1 ; i < sorted.length ; i++) {
if (currentString.equals(sorted[i])) {
currentCount++;
} else {
if (maxCount < currentCount) {
maxCount = currentCount;
bestString = currentString;
}
currentString = sorted[i];
currentCount = 1;
}
}
if (currentCount > maxCount) {
return currentString;
}
return bestString;
}
Explanation:
Sort the array from highest to lowest lexicographically. That's what Arrays.sort(sorted, 0, sorted.length, Comparator.reverseOrder()); does. we sort in this order because you want the largest string if there are multiple strings with the same number of repeats.
Now we can just count the strings by looping through the array. We don't need a hash map or anything because we know that there will be no more of a string in the rest of the array when we encounter a different string.
currentString is the string that we are currently counting the number of repeats of, using currentCount. maxCount is the number of occurrence of the most repeated string - bestString - that we have currently counted.
The if statement is pretty self-explanatory: if it is the same string, count it, otherwise see if the previous string we counted (currentCount) appears more times than the current max.
At the end, I check if the last string being counted is more than max. If the last string in the array happens to be the most repeated one, bestString won't be assigned to it because bestString is only assigned when a different string is encountered.
Note that this algorithm does not handle edge cases like empty arrays or only one element arrays. I'm sure you will figure that out yourself.

another version
static String lastMostFrequent(String ... strs) {
if (strs.length == 0) return null;
Arrays.sort(strs);
String str = strs[0];
for (int longest=0, l=1, i=1; i<strs.length; i++) {
if (!strs[i-1].equals(strs[i])) { l=1; continue; }
if (++l < longest) continue;
longest = l;
str = strs[i];
}
return str;
}
change in
if (++l <= longest) continue;
for firstMostFrequent

you can't use == to check if two strings are the same.
try using this instead:
if (str[k].equals(str[l])) {
// if matched, increase count
num++;
}

Am I comparing strings lexicographically correctly?

I am creating a method compareTo(AltString altStr2) that sorts strings by their length (shortest to longest).
However, I would like to go the extra mile and check for strings that are of the same length. In that case, I figure it is best to sort the strings lexicographically, so that they are sorted in the same way they would appear in the dictionary. So far my code is below.
public class AltString {
String internalStr;
public AltString(String str) {
internalStr = str;
}
public String toString() {
return internalStr;
}
public int compareTo(AltString altStr2) {
if (this.internalStr.length() < altStr2.internalStr.length()) {
return -1;
} else if (this.internalStr.length() > altStr2.internalStr.length()) {
return 1;
} else {
int idx = 0;
while (this.internalStr.charAt(idx) != altStr2.internalStr.charAt(idx)) {
if (this.internalStr.charAt(idx) < altStr2.internalStr.charAt(idx)) {
return -1;
}else if (this.internalStr.charAt(idx) > altStr2.internalStr.charAt(idx)) {
return 1;
} else {
idx += 1;
public static void main(String[] args) {
// some test code for the AltString class
String [] list = {"fortran", "java", "perl", "python", "php", "javascrip", "c", "c++", "c#", "ruby"};
AltString [] alist = new AltString[list.length];
for (int i=0; i<alist.length; i++) {
alist[i] = new AltString(list[i]);
}
Arrays.sort(list);
Arrays.sort(alist);
System.out.println("String sort:");
for (int i=0; i<list.length; i++) {
System.out.println(list[i]);
}
System.out.println("\nAltString sort:");
for (int i=0; i<alist.length; i++) {
System.out.println(alist[i]);
}
}
The part I am must stuck on is comparing the strings lexicographically. Currently, I have my code setup so that I enter a while-loop and compare each char.
My question is, is this the most efficient way to do this, or is there a better way to compare each string lexicographically in the cases where the strings are the same length?

Following the suggestions of Tunaki and JB Nizet, you can use Integer.compare and String.compareTo. Using String.compareTo does not count as recursion. Recursion is when you call a method from itself, but String.compareTo is a different method from AltString.compareTo.
public int compareTo(AltString altStr2) {
int temp = Integer.compare(this.internalStr.length(), altStr2.internalStr.length());
return temp != 0 ? temp : this.internalStr.compareTo(altStr2.internalStr);
}

How to get a certain array element's key?

I'm pretty new to java, and I'm trying to create a simple method that sorts inputted numbers, either ascending or descending. However, there's a problem that I can't put in repeated values. Is there a way to get the key of a certain item of an array??
My code:
import java.io.Console;
public class TestSort {
public static void main(String args[]) {
Console c = System.console();
if (c == null) {
System.err.println("No console.");
System.exit(1);
}
System.out.println("TESTSORT.java");
System.out.println("-------------");
System.out.println("Type in a set of numbers here:");
String in = c.readLine();
System.out.println("(A)scending or (D)escending");
String ad = c.readLine();
boolean d = false;
if(ad.equals("a")) d = false;
else if(ad.equals("d")) d = true;
else {
System.out.println("Invalid Input.");
System.exit(1);
}
String[] in2 = in.split(" ");
int[] x = new int[in2.length];
int count1 = 0;
for(String val : in2)
x[count1++] = Integer.parseInt(val);
int[] a = new int[x.length];
int count = 0;
for(int y : x) {
for(int z : x) {
// if index of y equals index of z continue
if(z < y) count++;
}
a[count] = y;
count = 0;
}
if(d) {
int[] arr3 = new int[a.length];
int length = a.length;
for(int b : a) arr3[--length] = b;
for(int b : arr3) System.out.println(b);
} else
for(int b : a)
System.out.println(b);
}
}
This program just counts up the number of other numbers smaller than itself, but not including itself. However, it doesn't differentiate itself from other numbers with the same value.
Help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

To get the index of a certain value for an array you will have to loop through the array. However if there is multiple entries with the same value this approach wouldn't work (without modification)
int indexVal = -1;
int inputValue; // This is your input vlaue you are trying to find
for(int i = 0; i < array.length ; i++)
{
if (array[i] == inputValue)
{
indexVal = i;
break;
}
}
You may also want to look at Array.sort for built in array sorrting

If you want an index you should not be using for each loops. You will have to use a regular for loop to get at an index in the array.

A SortedSet is perfect for this. As a set, it does not allow duplicate values, and it is sorted automatically for you!
Just add your elements to the set, e.g:
SortedSet<Integer> set = new SortedSet<Integer>();
for(String value : in2.split(" ")){
set.add(Integer.parseInt(value));
}
To reverse the order of the set do something like this:
SortedSet<Integer> descending = set.descendingSet();
You can iterate through sets just like arrays too:
for(Integer i : set){
//Do something
}
Good luck!