Problem Statement
You are given a string consisting of a, b, and c's and following operation is allowed: Take any two adjacent character and they can be replaced with third character. For ex: a and b with c, b and c with a. Find length of smallest string, the operation can be applied repeatedly.
Ex: for input bcab, bcab -> aab -> ac -> b the output will be 1
Use brute force approach, For each string
1) If length of string is 1 return 1
2) if len is 2 and both character are same return 2
3) else try to find smallest possible string from all possible ways i.e for every two adjacent character replace it with third character and invoke reduce again on this new smaller string until smallest possible string is reached.
4) If the string achieved is smaller then previous possible smaller string store and update minimum length. Read full article from Just Programming...: Interviewstreet String Reduction Solution C++
You are given a string consisting of a, b, and c's and following operation is allowed: Take any two adjacent character and they can be replaced with third character. For ex: a and b with c, b and c with a. Find length of smallest string, the operation can be applied repeatedly.
Ex: for input bcab, bcab -> aab -> ac -> b the output will be 1
Use brute force approach, For each string
1) If length of string is 1 return 1
2) if len is 2 and both character are same return 2
3) else try to find smallest possible string from all possible ways i.e for every two adjacent character replace it with third character and invoke reduce again on this new smaller string until smallest possible string is reached.
4) If the string achieved is smaller then previous possible smaller string store and update minimum length. Read full article from Just Programming...: Interviewstreet String Reduction Solution C++
