I have an array of strings, stringarr, and want to know the length of the longest string. I'm not interested in the string itself.
My first solution was
maxlen = stringarr.max_by(&:size).size
Works, but ugly: I have to mention size twice, which is error-prone, and the size of the longest string needs to be caluclated twice. Well, no big deal with strings, but see below.
Another idea was
maxlen = stringarr.map(&:size).max
Cleaner from the viewpoint of readability, but needs to create a temporary array. Not good either.
Here another attempt:
maxlen = stringarr.inject(0) {|memo,s| [memo.size,s.size].max}
Not exactly beautiful either....
I wonder if there is a better approach. My wish would be something like
maxlen = stringarr.max_of(&:size) # Sadly no max_of in Ruby core
This would be of interest in particular, when I have a more complicated code block. This certainly is not good style:
maxlen = measurement(stringarr.max_by {|s| measurement(s)})
Any suggestions?
I think your inject method is probably the cleanest, but it has an error in it. You memoize the size but then you call .size on the memoized number.
Try this instead:
maxlen = stringarr.inject(0) {|memo,s| [memo,s.size].max}
Stole compiled #msergeant and #sebastián-palma:
require 'benchmark'
N = 10_000
stringarr = Array.new( N, 'Lorem Ipsum dolor sit amet' )
Benchmark.bm do |x|
x.report { stringarr.map(&:size).max }
x.report { stringarr.max_by(&:size).size }
x.report { stringarr.sort_by(&:size)[-1].size }
x.report { stringarr.inject(0) { |memo,s| [memo,s.size].max } }
x.report { stringarr.inject(0) { |memo,s| memo > s.size ? memo : s.size } }
end
My winner is #msergeant's variant with using ternary operator, when bare [memo,s.size].max is a slowest one. You can have different results on your environment and with another stringarr's data.
Based on the answers and comments I received, I decided to add a method to Enumerable for this purpose. I'm posting it here, in case someone wants to take benefit from it, or in contrary criticize it:
class Enumerable
# Similar to map(&block).max, but more efficient
#
# x.max_of {|s| f(s)} returns the largest value f(s), or nil if x is empty.
# x(seed).max_of {|s| f(s)} returns the largest value f(s), provided that it
# is larger than seed, or returns seed, if no such
# element exists or x is empty.
def max_of(seed = nil)
enumerator = each
result = nil
begin
if seed
result = seed
else
result = yield(enumerator.next)
end
loop do
next_val = yield(enumerator.next)
result = next_val if next_val > result
end
rescue StopIteration
end
result
end
end
Related
During my lessons of Ruby I came across of this exercise. I'm trying to remove 3 or more the same charactes in a row. Test Cases Input: abbbaaccada Output: ccada Input: bbccdddcb Output: (Empty string)
So far I have solution which doesn't return expected results:
def playground("abbbaaccada")
count = string.length
string.chars.each_with_index.map { |v, i| (v * (count - i)).capitalize }.join('')
end
output gives me
==> AaaaaaaaaaaBbbbbbbbbbBbbbbbbbbBbbbbbbbAaaaaaaAaaaaaCccccCcccAaaDdA
instead of
==> ccada
Could you please advise?
Edit:
Forgot to add that regexp isn't allowed
There are two challenges here:
Match and remove any run of thee or more characters in a row
Recurse to test again in case the previous step created a new run of three
Here's one way to do it:
THREE_OR_MORE = /(.)\1{2,}/
def three_is_too_many(str)
if str.match? THREE_OR_MORE
str = three_is_too_many(str.gsub(THREE_OR_MORE, ''))
end
str
end
The regexp finds any character ('.'), followed by itself ('\1'), two or more times ('{2,}').
Then the routine either a) removes three or more and tests again or b) returns the string.
Here's a potential solution. The following method searches for any subsequence of an array with repeats, and returns the range of the repeated values if there are three or more of them.
def find_3_or_more(ary)
ary.each_index do |i|
j = i + 1
while j < ary.length && ary[i] == ary[j]
j += 1
end
return (i...j) if j - i > 2
end
nil
end
This portion breaks the target string into an array of chars, and repeatedly slices out the characters in ranges identified as repeats until there are none, as indicated by a nil range.
def delete_3_or_more(str)
ary = str.chars
while r = find_3_or_more(ary)
ary.slice!(r)
end
return ary.join
end
It seems to do the job for your test cases.
def recursively_remove_runs_of_3_or_more(str)
arr = str.chars
loop do
a = arr.slice_when { |a,b| a.downcase != b.downcase }.to_a
b = a.reject! { |e| e.size > 2 }
arr = a.flatten
break arr.join if b.nil?
end
end
recursively_remove_runs_of_3_or_more "abbbaaccada"
#=> "ccada"
This uses Enumerable#slice_when (new in MRI v2.2). Note that Array#reject! returns nil when no changes are made.
You could alternatively use Enumerable#chunk_while (new in MRI v2.3). Simply replace:
a = arr.slice_when { |a,b| a.downcase != b.downcase }.to_a
with:
a = arr.chunk_while { |a,b| a.downcase == b.downcase }.to_a
chunk_while and slice_when are yin and yang.
If a regular expression could be used and case where not an issue, you could write:
str = "abbbaaccada"
s = str.dup
loop { break(s) if s.gsub!(/(.)\1{2,}/, '').nil? }
#=> "ccada"
(I wanted to comment, but it doesn't allow me to do that yet.)
Assuming that you are trying to learn, I chose to only give you some tips while avoiding a solution.
There might be shorter ways of doing this using regex or/and some String methods. However, you said you can not use regex.
My tip is, try to solve it only using the sections you have covered so far. It may not necessarily be the most elegant solution, but you can revise it as you progress. As others suggested, recursion might be a good option. But, if you are not familiar with that yet, you can try slicing the string and merging the parts you need. This can be combined with an endless loop to check the new string satisfies your condition: but think about when you need to break out of the loop.
Also, in your code:
v * (count - i)
String#* actually gives you count - i copies of v, concatenated together.
I am working on this coding challenge, and I have found that I am stuck. I thought it was possible to call the .string method on an argument that was passed in, but now I'm not sure. Everything I've found in the Ruby documentation suggests otherwise. I'd really like to figure this out without looking at the solution. Can someone help give me a push in the right direction?
# Write a method that will take a string as input, and return a new
# string with the same letters in reverse order.
# Don't use String's reverse method; that would be too simple.
# Difficulty: easy.
def reverse(string)
string_array = []
string.split()
string_array.push(string)
string_array.sort! { |x,y| y <=> x}
end
# These are tests to check that your code is working. After writing
# your solution, they should all print true.
puts(
'reverse("abc") == "cba": ' + (reverse("abc") == "cba").to_s
)
puts(
'reverse("a") == "a": ' + (reverse("a") == "a").to_s
)
puts(
'reverse("") == "": ' + (reverse("") == "").to_s
)
This is the simplest one line solution, for reversing a string without using #reverse, that I have come across -
"string".chars.reduce { |x, y| y + x } # => "gnirts"
Additionally, I have never heard of the #string method, I think you might try #to_s.
Easiest way to reverse a string
s = "chetan barawkar"
b = s.length - 1
while b >= 0
print s[b]
b=b-1
end
You need to stop the search for alternative or clever methods, such as altering things so you can .sort them. It is over-thinking the problem, or in some ways avoiding thinking about the core problem you have been asked to solve.
What this test is trying to get you you to do, is understand the internals of a String, and maybe get an appreciation of how String#reverse might be implemented using the most basic string operations.
One of the most basic String operations is to get a specific character from the string. You can get the first character by calling string[0], and in general you can get the nth character (zero-indexed) by calling string[n].
In addition you can combine or build longer strings by adding them together, e.g. if you had a="hell" and b="o", then c = a + b would store "hello" in the variable c.
Using this knowledge, find a way to loop through the original string and use that to build the reverse string, one character at a time. You may also need to look up how to get the length of a string (another basic string method, which you will find in any language's string library), and how to loop through numbers in sequence.
You're on the right track converting it to an array.
def reverse(str)
str.chars.sort_by.with_index { |_, i| -i }.join
end
Here is a solution I used to reverse a string without using .reverse method :
#string = "abcde"
#l = #string.length
#string_reversed = ""
i = #l-1
while i >=0 do
#string_reversed << #string[i]
i = i-1
end
return #string_reversed
Lol, I am going through the same challenge. It may not be the elegant solution, but it works and easy to understand:
puts("Write is a string that you want to print in reverse")
#taking a string from the user
string = gets.to_s #getting input and converting into string
def reverse(string)
i = 0
abc = [] # creating empty array
while i < string.length
abc.unshift(string[i]) #populating empty array in reverse
i = i + 1
end
return abc.join
end
puts ("In reverse: " + reverse(string))
Thought i'd contribute my rookie version.
def string_reverse(string)
new_array = []
formatted_string = string.chars
new_array << formatted_string.pop until formatted_string.empty?
new_array.join
end
def reverse_str(string)
# split a string to create an array
string_arr = string.split('')
result_arr = []
i = string_arr.length - 1
# run the loop in reverse
while i >=0
result_arr.push(string_arr[i])
i -= 1
end
# join the reverse array and return as a string
result_arr.join
end
Is there another way to write 'a'.next.next? I've looked all over and can't seem to find it.
I've tried multiplying the .next but I keep getting errors.
Well, this might not be a good idea in the case here, but if you're looking to chain a method n times in general, you can do something like this:
2.times.inject('a') { |s| s.next }
# => 'c'
20.times.inject('a') { |s| s.next }
# => 'u'
This starts with the value 'a', runs a block that calls next, then each successive result is fed back into the block.
For what it's worth, monkey-patching String can be fine for trivial scripts, but personally I'd try to look for other solutions first, like just adding a utility function to your class/module:
def repeat_next(str, n = 1)
n.times.inject(str) { |s| s.next }
end
A shortcut for your specific problem, (a.ord + 2).chr, potentially exists, although it's not the same thing.
You can just redefine String.next like this:
class String
alias_method :next1, :next
def next(n = 1)
str = self
for i in 1..n
str = str.next1
end
str
end
end
puts 'a'.next
puts 'a'.next(2)
puts 'a'.next(20)
If you're looking for a more succinct way of doing this, you could use: ('a'.ord + 2).chr. This will convert 'a' to a numerical representation (with the "ord" method), increment it by two, then converts it back to the character representation (with "chr").
You can monkey-patch the String class in ruby to add a method to do this for you:
class String
def get_nth_char(n)
current = self
while n > 0 do
current = current.next
n = n - 1
end
current
end
end
So you can do 'a'.get_nth_char(2) # => 'c'
Totally new to Ruby. This is a simple homework assignment. The secret_code function needs to take in input string and perform the following actions:
In the first block of letters before a space, capitalize all but the first char
Reverse the string
So if the input were "super duper", the output should be "repud REPUs".
I coded the function as follows:
def secret_code(input)
input.split(" ").first[1..-1].each_char do |i|
input[i] = i.upcase
end
return input.reverse
end
It passes the unit tests, but I am wondering if there is a better way to code it. Is it possible to avoid using the loop? I tried
return input.split(" ").first[1..-1].upcase.reverse
But that didn't quite work. Any thoughts on how to clean this up are appreciated!
"super duper".sub(/(?<=.)\S+/, &:upcase).reverse
How about this:
def secret_code(input)
first_space = input.index(' ')
(input[0] + input[1...first_space].upcase + input[first_space..-1]).reverse
end
Note that in Ruby, the last expression evaluate in a method is always returned, so you can omit the final return.
s = "super duper"
words = s.split(' ')
words.first[1..-1] = words.first[1..-1].upcase
words.each { |word| word.reverse! }
s = words.reverse.join(' ')
puts s # => repud REPUs
Not necessarily any better, but sure, it can be done without a loop...
def f x
(b = [(a = x.split)[0].upcase, *a.drop(1)].join(' ').reverse)[-1] = x[0, 1]
return b
end
You can try the below:
a = "super duper"
p a.gsub(a.split[0...1].join(' '),a.split[0...1].join(' ').capitalize.swapcase).reverse
Output:
"repud REPUs"
Input should be a string:
"abcd#gmail.com"
Output should be an Array of strings:
["abcd#gmail.com",
"a.bcd#gmail.com",
"ab.cd#gmail.com",
"abc.d#gmail.com",
"a.b.cd#gmail.com",
"a.bc.d#gmail.com",
"a.b.c.d#gmail.com"]
The idea: "Make every possible combination in the first string part ("abcd") with a dot. Consecutive dots are not allowed. There are no dots allowed in the beginning and in the end of the first string part ("abcd")"
This is what I've came up with so far:
text,s = "abcd".split""
i=0
def first_dot(text)
text.insert 1,"."
end
def set_next_dot(text)
i = text.rindex(".")
text.delete_at i
text.insert(i+1,".")
end
My approach was
write a function, that sets the first dot
write a function that sets the next dot
...(magic)
I do not know how to put the pieces together. Any Idea? Or perhaps a better way?
thanx in advance
edit:
I think I found the solution :)
I will post it in about one hour (it's brilliant -> truth tables, binary numbers, transposition)
...and here the solution
s = "abc"
states = s.length
possibilites = 2**states
def set_space_or_dot(value)
value.gsub("0","").gsub("1",".")
end
def fill_with_leading_zeros(val, states)
if val.length < states
"0"*(states-val.length)+val
else
val
end
end
a = Array.new(possibilites,s)
a = a.map{|x| x.split ""}
b = [*0...possibilites].map{|x| x.to_s(2).to_s}
b = b.map{|x| fill_with_leading_zeros x,states}
b = b.map{|x| x.split ""}
c = []
for i in 0 ... a.size
c[i] = (set_space_or_dot (a[i].zip b[i]).join).strip
end
Changing pduersteler answer a little bit:
possibilities = []
string = "abcd#example.com"
(string.split('#')[0].size-1).times do |pos|
possibility = string.dup
possibilities << possibility.insert(pos+1, '.')
end
How about this (probably needs a bit more fine-tuning to suit your needs):
s = "abcd"
(0..s.size-1).map do |i|
start, rest = [s[0..i], s[(i+1)..-1]]
(0..rest.size-1).map { |j| rest.dup.insert(j, '.') }.map { |s| "#{start}#{s}"}
end.flatten.compact
#=> ["a.bcd", "ab.cd", "abc.d", "ab.cd", "abc.d", "abc.d"]
An option would be to iterate n times through your string moving the dot, where n is the amount of chars minus 1. This is what you're doing right now, but without defining two methods.
Something like this:
possibilities = []
string = "abcd#example.com"
(string.split('#')[0].size-1).times do |pos|
possibilities << string.dup.insert(pos+1, '.')
end
edit
Now tested. THanks to the comments, you need to call .dup on the string before the insert. Otherwise, the dot gets inserted into the string and will stay there for each iteration causing a mess. Calling .dup onthe string will copy the string and works on the copy instead, leaving the original string untouched.