Easy
You are given an array of equal-length strings words
. Assume that the length of each string is n
.
Each string words[i]
can be converted into a difference integer array difference[i]
of length n - 1
where difference[i][j] = words[i][j+1] - words[i][j]
where 0 <= j <= n - 2
. Note that the difference between two letters is the difference between their positions in the alphabet i.e. the position of 'a'
is 0
, 'b'
is 1
, and 'z'
is 25
.
"acb"
, the difference integer array is [2 - 0, 1 - 2] = [2, -1]
.All the strings in words have the same difference integer array, except one. You should find that string.
Return the string in words
that has different difference integer array.
Example 1:
Input: words = [“adc”,”wzy”,”abc”]
Output: “abc”
Explanation:
The difference integer array of “adc” is [3 - 0, 2 - 3] = [3, -1].
The difference integer array of “wzy” is [25 - 22, 24 - 25]= [3, -1].
The difference integer array of “abc” is [1 - 0, 2 - 1] = [1, 1].
The odd array out is [1, 1], so we return the corresponding string, “abc”.
Example 2:
Input: words = [“aaa”,”bob”,”ccc”,”ddd”]
Output: “bob”
Explanation: All the integer arrays are [0, 0] except for “bob”, which corresponds to [13, -13].
Constraints:
3 <= words.length <= 100
n == words[i].length
2 <= n <= 20
words[i]
consists of lowercase English letters.class Solution {
fun oddString(words: Array<String>): String {
val n = words[0].length - 1
val x = IntArray(n)
var s = 1
var y = 0
var index = 1
for (i in 0 until n) {
x[i] = words[0][i + 1].code - words[0][i].code
}
var i = 1
while (y * s == 0 || s + y < 3) {
var b = true
for (j in 0 until n) {
if (x[j] != words[i][j + 1].code - words[i][j].code) {
b = false
break
}
}
if (b) {
s++
} else {
y++
index = i
}
i++
}
return if (s == 1) words[0] else words[index]
}
}