trying to find if a character appears successively in a string - python

Simple script to find if the second arguement appears 3 times successively in the first arguement. I am able to find if the second arguement is in first and how many time etc but how do i see if its present 3 times successively or not ?
#!/usr/bin/python
import string
def three_consec(s1,s2) :
for i in s1 :
total = s1.count(s2)
if total > 2:
return "True"
print three_consec("ABABA","A")

total = s1.count(s2) will give you the number of s2 occurrences in s1 regardless of your position i.
Instead, just iterate through the string, and keep counting as you see characters s2:
def three_consec (string, character):
found = 0
for c in string:
if c == character:
found += 1
else:
found = 0
if found > 2:
return True
return False
Alternatively, you could also do it the other way around, and just look if “three times the character” appears in the string:
def three_consec (string, character):
return (character * 3) in string
This uses the feature that you can multiplicate a string by a number to repeat that string (e.g. 'A' * 3 will give you 'AAA') and that the in operator can be used to check whether a substring exists in a string.

Related

Python algorithm in list

In a list of N strings, implement an algorithm that outputs the largest n if the entire string is the same as the preceding n strings. (i.e., print out how many characters in front of all given strings match).
My code:
def solution(a):
import numpy as np
for index in range(0,a):
if np.equal(a[index], a[index-1]) == True:
i += 1
return solution
else:
break
return 0
# Test code
print(solution(['abcd', 'abce', 'abchg', 'abcfwqw', 'abcdfg'])) # 3
print(solution(['abcd', 'gbce', 'abchg', 'abcfwqw', 'abcdfg'])) # 0
Some comments on your code:
There is no need to use numpy if it is only used for string comparison
i is undefined when i += 1 is about to be executed, so that will not run. There is no actual use of i in your code.
index-1 is an invalid value for a list index in the first iteration of the loop
solution is your function, so return solution will return a function object. You need to return a number.
The if condition is only comparing complete words, so there is no attempt to only compare a prefix.
A possible way to do this, is to be optimistic and assume that the first word is a prefix of all other words. Then as you detect a word where this is not the case, reduce the size of the prefix until it is again a valid prefix of that word. Continue like that until all words have been processed. If at any moment you find the prefix is reduced to an empty string, you can actually exit and return 0, as it cannot get any less than that.
Here is how you could code it:
def solution(words):
prefix = words[0] # if there was only one word, this would be the prefix
for word in words:
while not word.startswith(prefix):
prefix = prefix[:-1] # reduce the size of the prefix
if not prefix: # is there any sense in continuing?
return 0 # ...: no.
return len(prefix)
The description is somewhat convoluted but it does seem that you're looking for the length of the longest common prefix.
You can get the length of the common prefix between two strings using the next() function. It can find the first index where characters differ which will correspond to the length of the common prefix:
def maxCommon(S):
cp = S[0] if S else "" # first string is common prefix (cp)
for s in S[1:]: # go through other strings (s)
cs = next((i for i,(a,b) in enumerate(zip(s,cp)) if a!=b),len(cp))
cp = cp[:cs] # truncate to new common size (cs)
return len(cp) # return length of common prefix
output:
print(maxCommon(['abcd', 'abce', 'abchg', 'abcfwqw', 'abcdfg'])) # 3
print(maxCommon(['abcd', 'gbce', 'abchg', 'abcfwqw', 'abcdfg'])) # 0

How does comparing two chars (within a string) work in Python

I am starting to learn Python and looked at following website: https://www.w3resource.com/python-exercises/string/
I work on #4 which is "Write a Python program to get a string from a given string where all occurrences of its first char have been changed to '$', except the first char itself."
str="restart"
char=str[0]
print(char)
strcpy=str
i=1
for i in range(len(strcpy)):
print(strcpy[i], "\n")
if strcpy[i] is char:
strcpy=strcpy.replace(strcpy[i], '$')
print(strcpy)
I would expect "resta$t" but the actual result is: $esta$t
Thank you for your help!
There are two issues, first, you are not starting iteration where you think you are:
i = 1 # great, i is 1
for i in range(5):
print(i)
0
1
2
3
4
i has been overwritten by the value tracking the loop.
Second, the is does not mean value equivalence. That is reserved for the == operator. Simpler types such as int and str can make it seem like is works in this fashion, but other types do not behave this way:
a, b = 5, 5
a is b
True
a, b = "5", "5"
a is b
True
a==b
True
### This doesn't work
a, b = [], []
a is b
False
a == b
True
As #Kevin pointed out in the comments, 99% of the time, is is not the operator you want.
As far as your code goes, str.replace will replace all instances of the argument supplied with the second arg, unless you give it an optional number of instances to replace. To avoid replacing the first character, grab the first char separately, like val = somestring[0], then replace the rest using a slice, no need for iteration:
somestr = 'restart' # don't use str as a variable name
val = somestr[0] # val is 'r'
# somestr[1:] gives 'estart'
x = somestr[1:].replace(val, '$')
print(val+x)
# resta$t
If you still want to iterate, you can do that over the slice as well:
# collect your letters into a list
letters = []
char = somestr[0]
for letter in somestr[1:]: # No need to track an index here
if letter == char: # don't use is, use == for value comparison
letter = '$' # change letter to a different value if it is equal to char
letters.append(letter)
# Then use join to concatenate back to a string
print(char + ''.join(letters))
# resta$t
There are some need of modification on your code.
Modify your code with as given in below.
strcpy="restart"
i=1
for i in range(len(strcpy)):
strcpy=strcpy.replace(strcpy[0], '$')[:]
print(strcpy)
# $esta$t
Also, the best practice to write code in Python is to use Function. You can modify your code as given below or You can use this function.
def charreplace(s):
return s.replace(s[0],'$')[:]
charreplace("restart")
#'$esta$t'
Hope this helpful.

Search a string for a given key

I've been doing some more CodeEval challenges and came across one on the hard tab.
You are given two strings. Determine if the second string is a substring of the first (Do NOT use any substr type library function). The second string may contain an asterisk() which should be treated as a regular expression i.e. matches zero or more characters. The asterisk can be escaped by a \ char in which case it should be interpreted as a regular '' character. To summarize: the strings can contain alphabets, numbers, * and \ characters.
So you are given two strings in a file that look something like this: Hello,ell your job is to figure out if ell is in hello, what I do:
I haven't quite gotten it perfect, but I did get it to the point where it passes and works with a 65% complete. How it runs through the string, and the key, and checks if the characters match. If the characters match, it appends the character into a list. After this it divides the length of the string by 2 and checks if the length of the list is either greater than, or equal to half of the string. I figured half of the string length would be enough to verify if it indeed matches or not. Example of how it works:
h == e -> no
e == e -> yes -> list
l == e -> no
l == e -> no
...
My question is what can I do better to the point where I can verify the wildcards that are said above?
import sys
def search_string(string, key):
""" Search a string for a specified key.
If the key exists out put "true" if it doesn't output "false"
>>> search_string("test", "est")
true
>>> search_string("testing", "rawr")
false"""
results = []
for c in string:
for ch in key:
if c == ch:
results.append(c)
if len(string) / 2 < len(results) or len(string) / 2 == len(results):
return "true"
else:
return "false"
if __name__ == '__main__':
with open(sys.argv[1]) as data:
for line in data.readlines():
data_list = line.rstrip().split(",")
search_key = data_list[1]
word = data_list[0]
print(search_string(word, search_key))
I've come up with a solution to this problem. You've said "Do NOT use any substr type library function", I'm not sure If some of the functions I used are allowed or not, so tell me if I've broken any rules :D
Hope this helps you :)
def search_string(string, key):
key = key.replace("\\*", "<NormalStar>") # every \* becomes <NormalStar>
key = key.split("*") # splitting up the key makes it easier to work with
#print(key)
point = 0 # for checking order, e.g. test = t*est, test != est*t
found = "true" # default
for k in key:
k = k.replace("<NormalStar>", "*") # every <NormalStar> becomes *
if k in string[point:]: # the next part of the key is after the part before
point = string.index(k) + len(k) # move point after this
else: # k nbt found, return false
found = "false"
break
return found
print(search_string("test", "est")) # true
print(search_string("t....est", "t*est")) # true
print(search_string("n....est", "t*est")) # false
print(search_string("est....t", "t*est")) # false
print(search_string("anything", "*")) # true
print(search_string("test", "t\*est")) # false
print(search_string("t*est", "t\*est")) # true

Replace multiple characters in a string with one from a generator

I'm looking for a way to take a string that looks like the following:
(a,1),(b,1),(a,1),(b,5),(a,1),(b,2),(a,1),(b,1),(a,2),(b,6),(a,2)
And replace the first "a" with an even number, the second with the next
up even number, and so on for however long the string is. Then I'd like to take the first "b" and assign it an odd number, then the next "b" gets the
next highest odd number, and so on for however long the string is. I'm
working primarily in Python 2.7, but would be willing to look into other languages if a solution exists in that.
The following regular expression substitution should work:
import re
def odd_even(x):
global a,b
if x.group(1) == 'a':
a += 2
return str(a)
else:
b += 2
return str(b)
a = 0
b = -1
source = "(a,1),(b,1),(a,1),(b,5),(a,1),(b,2),(a,1),(b,1),(a,2),(b,6),(a,2)"
print re.sub("([ab])", odd_even, source)
This prints:
(2,1),(1,1),(4,1),(3,5),(6,1),(5,2),(8,1),(7,1),(10,2),(9,6),(12,2)
even = 2
while "a" in string:
string = string.replace("a", str(even), 1)
even += 2
odd = 1
while "b" in string:
string = string.replace("b", str(odd), 1)
odd += 2

Create Your Own Find String Function

For a school project I have to create a function called find_str that essentially does the same thing as the .find string method, but we cannot use any string methods in our definition.
The project description reads: "Function find_str has two parameters (both strings). It returns the lowest index where the second parameter is found within the first parameter (it returns -1 if the second parameter is not found within the first parameter)."
I have spent a lot of time working on this project and have yet to come to a solution. This is the current definition that I have come up with:
def find_str (string, substring):
index = 0
length = len (substring)
for ch in string:
if ch == substring [0]:
subindex1 = 0
subindex2 = index
for i in range (length):
if ch == substring [i]:
subindex1 +=1
if subindex1 == length:
return index
ch = string [(subindex2)+1]
subindex2 +=1
index += 1
return "-1"
This sample of code only works in some instances, but not all.
For example:
print (find_str ("hello", "llo"))
returns:
2
as it should.
But
print (find_str ("hello", "el"))
returns:
ch = string [(subindex2)+1]
IndexError: string index out of range
I feel like I am overthinking this and there must be is an easier way to do it. Any input or help would be great! Thanks.
FFUsing a sub function to clear your thoughts often help.
def find_str (string, substring):
index = 0
length = len (substring)
for j in range(len(string)):
if is_next_sub(string, substring, j):
return j
return "-1"
def is_next_sub(string, substring, index):
for i in range(len(substring)):
if substring[i] != string[index + i]:
return False
return True
I'm not sure we should be helping you with 'homework'
How about this:
def find_str(string, substring):
for off in xrange(len(string)):
if string[off:].startswith(substring):
return off
return -1
I haven't checked through your code in detail, but it looks like you're trying to compare characters that don't exist.
Suppose you're searching "aaaaa" for the substring "aaa", and you need to find all matches...
String : aaaaa
Match at 0 : aaa..
Match at 1 : .aaa.
Match at 2 : ..aaa
Even though the characters always match, and there five characters in the string, there are only three positions that you might need to consider.
So before you look at the actual characters at all, you can restrict the number of start positions you might need to consider based on the lengths of the string and substring. You only loop for those start positions. That means you're not looping for start positions that cannot match. Also, if you don't do this...
String : aaaaa
Match at 0 : aaa..
Match at 1 : .aaa.
Match at 2 : ..aaa
Match at 3 : ...aa!
Match at 4 : ....a!!
Those exclamation points are places where you try to match a character in the substring with a character that doesn't exist, after the end of the string. You can check for that within the loop to avoid the error each time it occurs, but why not eliminate all those cases at once by not looping for the match positions that cannot occur?
The number of start positions you may need to check is len(fullstring) + 1 - len(substring), so you can derive a range of possible start positions using range(0, len(fullstring) + 1 - len(substring)).

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