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Find one extra character in a string

  • Difficulty Level : Easy
  • Last Updated : 21 Jul, 2021

Given two strings which are of lengths n and n+1. The second string contains all the character of the first string, but there is one extra character. Your task to find the extra character in the second string.
Examples : 
 

Input : string strA = "abcd";
        string strB = "cbdae";
Output : e
string B contain all the element 
there is a one extra character which is e

Input : string strA = "kxml";
        string strB = "klxml";
Output : l
string B contain all the element 
there is a one extra character which is l

 

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Method 1(Brute Force):- 
Check with two for loop. 
Time Complexity:- O(n^2) 
Space Complexity:- O(1). 
Method 2(Hash Map):- 
Create an empty hash table and insert all character of second string. Now remove all characters of first string. Remaining character is the extra character.
Time Complexity:- O(n) 
Auxiliary Space:- O(n). 
 



C++




// CPP program to find extra character in one
// string
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
char findExtraCharcter(string strA, string strB)
{
    // store string values in map
    unordered_map<char, int> m1;
 
    // store second string in map with frequency
    for (int i = 0; i < strB.length(); i++)
        m1[strB[i]]++;
 
    // store first string in map with frequency
    for (int i = 0; i < strA.length(); i++)
        m1[strA[i]]--;
 
    for (auto h1 = m1.begin(); h1 != m1.end(); h1++) {
 
        // if the frequency is 1 then this
        // character is which is added extra
        if (h1->second == 1)
            return h1->first;
    }
}
 
int main()
{
    // given string
    string strA = "abcd";
    string strB = "cbdad";
 
    // find Extra Character
    cout << findExtraCharcter(strA, strB);
}
Java



// Java program to find extra character in one
// string
class GFG
{
 
static char findExtraCharcter(char []strA, char[] strB)
{
    // store string values in map
    int[] m1 = new int[256];
 
    // store second string in map with frequency
    for (int i = 0; i < strB.length; i++)
        m1[strB[i]]++;
 
    // store first string in map with frequency
    for (int i = 0; i < strA.length; i++)
        m1[strA[i]]--;
 
    for (int i=0;i<m1.length;i++)
    {
 
        // if the frequency is 1 then this
        // character is which is added extra
        if (m1[i]== 1)
            return (char) i;
    }
    return Character.MIN_VALUE;
}
 
// Driver code
public static void main(String[] args)
{
    // given string
    String strA = "abcd";
    String strB = "cbdad";
 
    // find Extra Character
    System.out.println(findExtraCharcter(strA.toCharArray(), strB.toCharArray()));
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by 29AjayKumar
Python3



# Python3 program to find extra character
# in one string
def findExtraCharacter(strA, strB):
 
    # store string values in map
    m1 = {}
 
    # store second string in map
    # with frequency
    for i in strB:
        if i in m1:
            m1[i] += 1
        else:
            m1[i] = 1
 
    # store first string in map
    # with frequency
    for i in strA:
        m1[i] -= 1
 
    for h1 in m1:
 
        # if the frequency is 1 then this
        # character is which is added extra
        if m1[h1] == 1:
            return h1
 
# Driver Code
if __name__ == "__main__":
 
    # given string
    strA = 'abcd'
    strB = 'cbdad'
 
    # find Extra Character
    print(findExtraCharacter(strA, strB))
 
# This code is contributed by
# sanjeev2552
C#



// C# program to find extra character in one
// string
using System;
     
class GFG
{
 
static char findExtraCharcter(char []strA, char[] strB)
{
    // store string values in map
    int[] m1 = new int[256];
 
    // store second string in map with frequency
    for (int i = 0; i < strB.Length; i++)
        m1[strB[i]]++;
 
    // store first string in map with frequency
    for (int i = 0; i < strA.Length; i++)
        m1[strA[i]]--;
 
    for (int i = 0; i < m1.Length; i++)
    {
 
        // if the frequency is 1 then this
        // character is which is added extra
        if (m1[i]== 1)
            return (char) i;
    }
    return char.MinValue;
}
 
// Driver code
public static void Main(String[] args)
{
    // given string
    String strA = "abcd";
    String strB = "cbdad";
 
    // find Extra Character
    Console.WriteLine(findExtraCharcter(strA.ToCharArray(),
                                        strB.ToCharArray()));
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Rajput-Ji
Javascript



<script>
// JavaScript program to find extra character in one
// string
function findExtraCharcter(strA,strB)
{
 
    // store string values in map
    let m1 = new Array(256);
     for(let i = 0; i < 256; i++)
        m1[i] = 0;
     
    // store second string in map with frequency
    for (let i = 0; i < strB.length; i++)
        m1[strB[i].charCodeAt(0)]++;
  
    // store first string in map with frequency
    for (let i = 0; i < strA.length; i++)
        m1[strA[i].charCodeAt(0)]--;
  
    for (let i = 0; i < m1.length; i++)
    {
  
        // if the frequency is 1 then this
        // character is which is added extra
        if (m1[i] == 1)
            return String.fromCharCode(i);
    }
    return Number.MIN_VALUE;
}
 
// given string
let strA = "abcd";
let strB = "cbdad";
 
// find Extra Character
document.write(findExtraCharcter(strA.split(""), strB.split("")));
 
// This code is contributed by rag2127
</script>
Output: 
d
 
Method 3(Bits):- 
traverse first and second string from starting with xor operation at the end you get the character which is extra. 
Time Complexity:- O(n+n+1) 
Space Complexity:- O(1).
 
C++



// CPP program to find extra character in one
// string
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
char findExtraCharcter(string strA, string strB)
{
    // result store the result
    int res = 0, i;
 
    // traverse string A till end and
    // xor with res
    for (i = 0; i < strA.length(); i++) {
 
        // xor with res
        res ^= strA[i];
    }
 
    // traverse string B till end and
    // xor with res
    for (i = 0; i < strB.length(); i++) {
 
        // xor with res
        res ^= strB[i];
    }
 
    // print result at the end
    return ((char)(res));
}
 
int main()
{
    // given string
    string strA = "abcd";
    string strB = "cbdad";
    cout << findExtraCharcter(strA, strB);
    return 0;
}
Java



// Java program to find extra
// character in one string
import java.io.*;
 
class GFG {
     
    static char findExtraCharcter(String strA,
                                  String strB)
    {
        // result store the result
        int res = 0, i;
     
        // traverse string A till
        // end and xor with res
        for (i = 0; i < strA.length(); i++)
        {
            // xor with res
            res ^= strA.charAt(i);
        }
     
        // traverse string B till end and
        // xor with res
        for (i = 0; i < strB.length(); i++)
        {
            // xor with res
            res ^= strB.charAt(i);
        }
     
        // print result at the end
        return ((char)(res));
    }
     
    // Driver code
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        // given string
        String strA = "abcd";
        String strB = "cbdad";
        System.out.println(findExtraCharcter(strA, strB));
    }
}
 
/*This code is contributed by Nikita Tiwari.*/
Python 3



# Python 3 program to find
# extra character in one string
 
def findExtraCharcter(strA, strB) :
     
    # result store the result
    res = 0
 
    # traverse string A till
    # end and xor with res
    for i in range(0,len(strA)) :
         
        # xor with res
        res =res ^ (ord)(strA[i])
         
    # traverse string B till
    # end and xor with res
    for i in range(0,len(strB)) :
         
        # xor with res
        res = res ^ (ord)(strB[i])
         
    # print result at the end
    return ((chr)(res));
 
# given string
strA = "abcd"
strB = "cbdad"
print(findExtraCharcter(strA, strB))
 
# This code is contributed by Nikita Tiwari.
C#



// C# program to find extra character
// in one string
using System;
 
class GFG {
 
    static char findExtraCharcter(string strA,
                                  string strB)
    {
        // result store the result
        int res = 0, i;
     
        // traverse string A till end and
        // xor with res
        for (i = 0; i < strA.Length; i++) {
     
            // xor with res
            res ^= strA[i];
        }
     
        // traverse string B till end and
        // xor with res
        for (i = 0; i < strB.Length; i++) {
     
            // xor with res
            res ^= strB[i];
        }
     
        // print result at the end
        return ((char)(res));
    }
     
    // Driver Code
    public static void Main()
    {
        // given string
        string strA = "abcd";
        string strB = "cbdad";
        Console.WriteLine(
            findExtraCharcter(strA, strB));
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Manish Shaw
// (manishshaw1)
PHP



<?php
// PHP program to find extra character in
// one string
 
function findExtraCharcter($strA, $strB)
{
    // result store the result
    $res = 0;
 
    // traverse string A till end and
    // xor with res
    for ($i = 0; $i < strlen($strA); $i++)
    {
 
        // xor with res
        $res ^= ord($strA[$i]);
    }
 
    // traverse string B till end and
    // xor with res
    for ($i = 0; $i < strlen($strB); $i++)
    {
 
        // xor with res
        $res ^= ord($strB[$i]);
    }
 
    // print result at the end
    return $res;
}
 
// Driver code
$strA = "abcd";
$strB = "cbdad";
echo chr(findExtraCharcter($strA, $strB));
 
// This code is contributed by Manish Shaw
// (manishshaw1)
?>
Javascript



<script>
// Javascript program to find extra character in
// one string
 
function findExtraCharcter(strA, strB)
{
    // result store the result
    let res = 0;
 
    // traverse string A till end and
    // xor with res
    for (let i = 0; i < strA.length; i++)
    {
 
        // xor with res
        res ^= strA.charCodeAt(i);
    }
 
    // traverse string B till end and
    // xor with res
    for (let i = 0; i < strB.length; i++)
    {
 
        // xor with res
        res ^= strB.charCodeAt(i);
    }
 
    // print result at the end
    return res;
}
 
// Driver code
let strA = "abcd";
let strB = "cbdad";
document.write(String.fromCharCode(findExtraCharcter(strA, strB)));
 
 
 
// This code is contributed by gfgking
</script>
Output: 
d
 
Method 4(Character Code):- 
Add the character codes of both the strings. Minus character codes of smaller string from larger string and convert the result integer into character.
Time Complexity:- O(n) 
Auxiliary Space:- O(1). 
 
C++



    // C++ program to find extra
// character in one string
#include<bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
char findExtraCharacter(string s1, string s2)
{    
    string smallStr;
    string largeStr;
 
    // Determine string with extra character.
    if(s1.size() > s2.size())
    {
        smallStr = s2;
        largeStr = s1;
    }
    else
    {
        smallStr = s1;
        largeStr = s2;
    }
 
    int smallStrCodeTotal = 0;
    int largeStrCodeTotal = 0;
    int i = 0;
 
    // Add character codes of both the strings
    for(; i < smallStr.size(); i++)
    {
        smallStrCodeTotal += smallStr[i];
        largeStrCodeTotal += largeStr[i];
    }
 
    // Add last character code of large string.
    largeStrCodeTotal += largeStr[i];
 
    // Minus the character code of smaller string from
    // the character code of large string.
    // The result will be the extra character code.
    int intChar = largeStrCodeTotal - smallStrCodeTotal;    
    return (char)intChar;
}
 
// Driver code
int main()
{
    string s1 = "abcd";
    string s2 = "cbdae";
     
    char extraChar = findExtraCharacter(s1, s2);
    cout<<"Extra character: " <<(extraChar)<<endl;
    return 0;
}
 
// This code is contributed by Princi Singh
Java



// Java program to find extra
// character in one string
 
public class Test {
 
    private static char findExtraCharacter(String s1, String s2) {       
        String smallStr;
        String largeStr;
 
        // Determine String with extra character.
        if(s1.length() > s2.length()) {
            smallStr = s2;
            largeStr = s1;
        } else {
            smallStr = s1;
            largeStr = s2;
        }
 
        int smallStrCodeTotal = 0;
        int largeStrCodeTotal = 0;
        int i = 0;
 
        // Add character codes of both the strings
        for(; i < smallStr.length(); i++) {
            smallStrCodeTotal += smallStr.charAt(i);
            largeStrCodeTotal += largeStr.charAt(i);
        }
 
        // Add last character code of large String.
        largeStrCodeTotal += largeStr.charAt(i);
 
        // Minus the character code of smaller string from
        // the character code of large string.
        // The result will be the extra character code.
        int intChar = largeStrCodeTotal - smallStrCodeTotal;       
        return (char)intChar;
    }
     
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String s1 = "abcd";
        String s2 = "cbdae";
         
        char extraChar = findExtraCharacter(s1, s2);
        System.out.println("Extra character: " + extraChar);
         
    }
}
 
 
/*This code is contributed by Amol Bhosale.*/
Python3



# Python Program to find extra character in one string
def findExtraCharacter(s1,s2):
    smallStr = ""
    largeStr = ""
     
    # Determine string with extra character
    if(len(s1) > len(s2)):
        smallStr = s2
        largeStr = s1
    else:
        smallStr = s1
        largeStr = s2
    smallStrCodeTotal = 0
    largeStrCodeTotal = 0
    i = 0
     
    # Add Character codes of both the strings
    while(i < len(smallStr)):
        smallStrCodeTotal += ord(smallStr[i])
        largeStrCodeTotal += ord(largeStr[i])
        i += 1
     
    # Add last character code of large string
    largeStrCodeTotal += ord(largeStr[i])
     
    # Minus the character code of smaller string
    # from the character code of large string
    # The result will be the extra character code
    intChar = largeStrCodeTotal - smallStrCodeTotal
    return chr(intChar)
 
# Driver code
s1 = "abcd"
s2 = "cbdae"
extraChar = findExtraCharacter(s1, s2)
print("Extra Character:", extraChar)
 
# This code is contributed by simranjenny84
C#



// C# program to find extra
// character in one string
using System;
 
class GFG
{
    private static char findExtraCharacter(String s1,
                                           String s2)
    {    
        String smallStr;
        String largeStr;
 
        // Determine String with extra character.
        if(s1.Length > s2.Length)
        {
            smallStr = s2;
            largeStr = s1;
        }
        else
        {
            smallStr = s1;
            largeStr = s2;
        }
 
        int smallStrCodeTotal = 0;
        int largeStrCodeTotal = 0;
        int i = 0;
 
        // Add character codes of both the strings
        for(; i < smallStr.Length; i++)
        {
            smallStrCodeTotal += smallStr[i];
            largeStrCodeTotal += largeStr[i];
        }
 
        // Add last character code of large String.
        largeStrCodeTotal += largeStr[i];
 
        // Minus the character code of smaller string
        // from the character code of large string.
        // The result will be the extra character code.
        int intChar = largeStrCodeTotal -
                      smallStrCodeTotal;        
        return (char)intChar;
    }
     
    public static void Main(String[] args)
    {
        String s1 = "abcd";
        String s2 = "cbdae";
         
        char extraChar = findExtraCharacter(s1, s2);
        Console.WriteLine("Extra character: " +
                                    extraChar);
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by PrinciRaj1992
Javascript



<script>
// Javascript program to find extra
// character in one string
function findExtraCharacter(s1, s2)
{
        let smallStr;
        let largeStr;
  
        // Determine String with extra character.
        if(s1.length > s2.length)
        {
            smallStr = s2;
            largeStr = s1;
        }
        else
        {
            smallStr = s1;
            largeStr = s2;
        }
  
        let smallStrCodeTotal = 0;
        let largeStrCodeTotal = 0;
        let i = 0;
  
        // Add character codes of both the strings
        for(; i < smallStr.length; i++)
        {
            smallStrCodeTotal += smallStr[i].charCodeAt(0);
            largeStrCodeTotal += largeStr[i].charCodeAt(0);
        }
  
        // Add last character code of large String.
        largeStrCodeTotal += largeStr[i].charCodeAt(0);
  
        // Minus the character code of smaller string from
        // the character code of large string.
        // The result will be the extra character code.
        let intChar = largeStrCodeTotal - smallStrCodeTotal;  
         
        return String.fromCharCode(intChar);
}
 
let s1 = "abcd";
let s2 = "cbdae";
 
let extraChar = findExtraCharacter(s1, s2);
document.write("Extra character: " + extraChar);
 
// This code is contributed by avanitrachhadiya2155
</script>
Output: 
Extra character: e
 



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DevanshuAgarwal
@DevanshuAgarwal
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