problem443

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443. String Compression (Easy)

Given an array of characters, compress it in-place.

The length after compression must always be smaller than or equal to the original array.

Every element of the array should be a character (not int) of length 1.

After you are done modifying the input array in-place, return the new length of the array.

 

Follow up:
Could you solve it using only O(1) extra space?

 

Example 1:

Input:
["a","a","b","b","c","c","c"]

Output:
Return 6, and the first 6 characters of the input array should be: ["a","2","b","2","c","3"]

Explanation:
"aa" is replaced by "a2". "bb" is replaced by "b2". "ccc" is replaced by "c3".

 

Example 2:

Input:
["a"]

Output:
Return 1, and the first 1 characters of the input array should be: ["a"]

Explanation:
Nothing is replaced.

 

Example 3:

Input:
["a","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b"]

Output:
Return 4, and the first 4 characters of the input array should be: ["a","b","1","2"].

Explanation:
Since the character "a" does not repeat, it is not compressed. "bbbbbbbbbbbb" is replaced by "b12".
Notice each digit has it's own entry in the array.

 

Note:

1. All characters have an ASCII value in [35, 126].
2. 1 <= len(chars) <= 1000.

Related Topics

[String]

Similar Questions

1. Count and Say (Easy)
2. Encode and Decode Strings (Medium)
3. Design Compressed String Iterator (Easy)

Hints

Hint 1

How do you know if you are at the end of a consecutive group of characters?