Look-and-Say Sequence
Find the n’th term in Look-and-say (Or Count and Say) Sequence. The look-and-say sequence is the sequence of the below integers:
1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, 312211, 13112221, 1113213211, …
How is the above sequence generated?
n’th term is generated by reading (n-1)’th term.
The first term is "1" Second term is "11", generated by reading first term as "One 1" (There is one 1 in previous term) Third term is "21", generated by reading second term as "Two 1" Fourth term is "1211", generated by reading third term as "One 2 One 1" and so on
How to find n’th term?
Example:
Input: n = 3 Output: 21 Input: n = 5 Output: 111221
The idea is simple, we generate all terms from 1 to n. First, two terms are initialized as “1” and “11”, and all other terms are generated using previous terms. To generate a term using the previous term, we scan the previous term. While scanning a term, we simply keep track of the count of all consecutive characters. For a sequence of the same characters, we append the count followed by the character to generate the next term.
Below is an implementation of the above idea.
C++
// C++ program to find n'th term in look and say // sequence #include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std; // Returns n'th term in look-and-say sequence string countnndSay( int n) { // Base cases if (n == 1) return "1" ; if (n == 2) return "11" ; // Find n'th term by generating all terms from 3 to // n-1. Every term is generated using previous term string str = "11" ; // Initialize previous term for ( int i = 3; i<=n; i++) { // In below for loop, previous character // is processed in current iteration. That // is why a dummy character is added to make // sure that loop runs one extra iteration. str += '$' ; int len = str.length(); int cnt = 1; // Initialize count of matching chars string tmp = "" ; // Initialize i'th term in series // Process previous term to find the next term for ( int j = 1; j < len; j++) { // If current character doesn't match if (str[j] != str[j-1]) { // Append count of str[j-1] to temp tmp += cnt + '0' ; // Append str[j-1] tmp += str[j-1]; // Reset count cnt = 1; } // If matches, then increment count of matching // characters else cnt++; } // Update str str = tmp; } return str; } // Driver program int main() { int N = 3; cout << countnndSay(N) << endl; return 0; } |
Java
// Java program to find n'th // term in look and say sequence class GFG { // Returns n'th term in // look-and-say sequence static String countnndSay( int n) { // Base cases if (n == 1 ) return "1" ; if (n == 2 ) return "11" ; // Find n'th term by generating // all terms from 3 to n-1. // Every term is generated // using previous term // Initialize previous term String str = "11" ; for ( int i = 3 ; i <= n; i++) { // In below for loop, previous // character is processed in // current iteration. That is // why a dummy character is // added to make sure that loop // runs one extra iteration. str += '$' ; int len = str.length(); int cnt = 1 ; // Initialize count // of matching chars String tmp = "" ; // Initialize i'th // term in series char []arr = str.toCharArray(); // Process previous term // to find the next term for ( int j = 1 ; j < len; j++) { // If current character // doesn't match if (arr[j] != arr[j - 1 ]) { // Append count of // str[j-1] to temp tmp += cnt + 0 ; // Append str[j-1] tmp += arr[j - 1 ]; // Reset count cnt = 1 ; } // If matches, then increment // count of matching characters else cnt++; } // Update str str = tmp; } return str; } // Driver Code public static void main(String[] args) { int N = 3 ; System.out.println(countnndSay(N)); } } // This code is contributed // by ChitraNayal |
C#
// C# program to find n'th // term in look and say sequence using System; class GFG { // Returns n'th term in // look-and-say sequence static string countnndSay( int n) { // Base cases if (n == 1) return "1" ; if (n == 2) return "11" ; // Find n'th term by generating // all terms from 3 to n-1. // Every term is generated using // previous term // Initialize previous term string str = "11" ; for ( int i = 3; i <= n; i++) { // In below for loop, previous // character is processed in // current iteration. That is // why a dummy character is // added to make sure that loop // runs one extra iteration. str += '$' ; int len = str.Length; int cnt = 1; // Initialize count of // matching chars string tmp = "" ; // Initialize i'th // term in series char []arr = str.ToCharArray(); // Process previous term // to find the next term for ( int j = 1; j < len; j++) { // If current character // doesn't match if (arr[j] != arr[j - 1]) { // Append count of // str[j-1] to temp tmp += cnt + 0; // Append str[j-1] tmp += arr[j - 1]; // Reset count cnt = 1; } // If matches, then increment // count of matching characters else cnt++; } // Update str str = tmp; } return str; } // Driver Code public static void Main() { int N = 3; Console.Write(countnndSay(N)); } } // This code is contributed // by ChitraNayal |
Python3
# Python 3 program to find # n'th term in look and # say sequence # Returns n'th term in # look-and-say sequence def countnndSay(n): # Base cases if (n = = 1 ): return "1" if (n = = 2 ): return "11" # Find n'th term by generating # all terms from 3 to n-1. # Every term is generated using # previous term # Initialize previous term s = "11" for i in range ( 3 , n + 1 ): # In below for loop, # previous character is # processed in current # iteration. That is why # a dummy character is # added to make sure that # loop runs one extra iteration. s + = '$' l = len (s) cnt = 1 # Initialize count # of matching chars tmp = "" # Initialize i'th # term in series # Process previous term to # find the next term for j in range ( 1 , l): # If current character # doesn't match if (s[j] ! = s[j - 1 ]): # Append count of # str[j-1] to temp tmp + = str (cnt + 0 ) # Append str[j-1] tmp + = s[j - 1 ] # Reset count cnt = 1 # If matches, then increment # count of matching characters else : cnt + = 1 # Update str s = tmp return s; # Driver Code N = 3 print (countnndSay(N)) # This code is contributed # by ChitraNayal |
PHP
<?php // PHP program to find // n'th term in look // and say sequence // Returns n'th term in // look-and-say sequence function countnndSay( $n ) { // Base cases if ( $n == 1) return "1" ; if ( $n == 2) return "11" ; // Find n'th term by generating // all terms from 3 to n-1. // Every term is generated // using previous term // Initialize previous term $str = "11" ; for ( $i = 3; $i <= $n ; $i ++) { // In below for loop, // previous character is // processed in current // iteration. That is why // a dummy character is // added to make sure that // loop runs one extra iteration. $str = $str . '$' ; $len = strlen ( $str ); $cnt = 1; // Initialize count of // matching chars $tmp = "" ; // Initialize i'th // term in series // Process previous term // to find the next term for ( $j = 1; $j < $len ; $j ++) { // If current character // doesn't match if ( $str [ $j ] != $str [ $j - 1]) { // Append count of // str[j-1] to temp $tmp = $tmp . $cnt + 0; // Append str[j-1] $tmp = $tmp . $str [ $j - 1]; // Reset count $cnt = 1; } // If matches, then increment // count of matching characters else $cnt ++; } // Update str $str = $tmp ; } return $str ; } // Driver Code $N = 3; echo countnndSay( $N ); return 0; // This code is contributed // by ChitraNayal ?> |
Javascript
<script> // Javascript program to find n'th // term in look and say sequence // Returns n'th term in // look-and-say sequence function countnndSay(n) { // Base cases if (n == 1) return "1" ; if (n == 2) return "11" ; // Find n'th term by generating // all terms from 3 to n-1. // Every term is generated // using previous term // Initialize previous term let str = "11" ; for (let i = 3; i <= n; i++) { // In below for loop, previous // character is processed in // current iteration. That is // why a dummy character is // added to make sure that loop // runs one extra iteration. str += '$ '; let len = str.length; // Initialize count // of matching chars let cnt = 1; // Initialize i' th // term in series let tmp = "" ; let arr = str.split( "" ); // Process previous term // to find the next term for (let j = 1; j < len; j++) { // If current character // doesn't match if (arr[j] != arr[j - 1]) { // Append count of // str[j-1] to temp tmp += cnt + 0; // Append str[j-1] tmp += arr[j - 1]; // Reset count cnt = 1; } // If matches, then increment // count of matching characters else cnt++; } // Update str str = tmp; } return str; } // Driver Code let N = 3; document.write(countnndSay(N)); // This code is contributed by avanitrachhadiya2155 </script> |
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Another Approach(Using STL): There is one more idea where we can use unordered_map from c++ stl to track the count of digits. Basic idea is to use a generator function that will generate a string from the previous string. In the count and say function we will iterate over integers from 1 to n-1 and keep updating our result.
C++
#include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std; // generator function returns int string from prev int // string e.g. -> it will return '1211' for '21' ( One 2's // and One 1) string generator(string str) { string ans = "" ; unordered_map< char , int > tempCount; // It is used to count integer sequence for ( int i = 0; i < str.length() + 1; i++) { // when current char is different from prev one we // clear the map and update the ans if (tempCount.find(str[i]) == tempCount.end() && i > 0) { auto prev = tempCount.find(str[i - 1]); ans += to_string(prev->second) + prev->first; tempCount.clear(); } // when current char is same as prev one we increase // it's count value tempCount[str[i]]++; } return ans; } string countnndSay( int n) { string res = "1" ; // res variable keep tracks of string // from 1 to n-1 // For loop iterates for n-1 time and generate strings // in sequence "1" -> "11" -> "21" -> "1211" for ( int i = 1; i < n; i++) { res = generator(res); } return res; } int main() { int N = 3; cout << countnndSay(N) << endl; return 0; } |
Java
import java.io.*; import java.util.*; class GFG { // generator function returns int string from prev int // string e.g. -> it will return '1211' for '21' ( One 2's // and One 1) static String generator(String str) { String ans = "" ; HashMap<Character, Integer>tempCount = new HashMap<>(); // It is used to count integer sequence for ( int i = 0 ; i < str.length() + 1 ; i++) { // when current char is different from prev one we // clear the map and update the ans if (i == str.length() || tempCount.containsKey(str.charAt(i)) == false && i > 0 ) { ans += String.valueOf(tempCount.get(str.charAt(i- 1 ))) + str.charAt(i- 1 ); tempCount.clear(); } // when current char is same as prev one we increase // it's count value if (i == str.length()){ tempCount.put( null , 1 ); } else { if (tempCount.containsKey(str.charAt(i))){ tempCount.put(str.charAt(i), tempCount.get(str.charAt(i))+ 1 ); } else { if (i != str.length())tempCount.put(str.charAt(i), 1 ); } } } return ans; } static String countnndSay( int n) { String res = "1" ; // res variable keep tracks of string // from 1 to n-1 // For loop iterates for n-1 time and generate strings // in sequence "1" -> "11" -> "21" -> "1211" for ( int i = 1 ; i < n; i++) { res = generator(res); } return res; } // Driver Code public static void main(String args[]) { int N = 3 ; System.out.println(countnndSay(N)); } } // This code is contributed by shinjanpatra |
Javascript
<script> // generator function returns int string from prev int // string e.g. -> it will return '1211' for '21' ( One 2's // and One 1) function generator(str) { let ans = "" ; let tempCount = new Map(); // It is used to count integer sequence for ( i = 0; i < str.length + 1; i++) { // when current char is different from prev one we // clear the map and update the ans if (tempCount.has(str[i]) == false && i > 0) { let prev = tempCount.get(str[i - 1]); ans += prev.toString() + str[i - 1]; tempCount.clear(); } // when current char is same as prev one we increase // it's count value if (tempCount.has(str[i]) == false ) tempCount.set(str[i],1); else tempCount.set(str[i],tempCount.get(str[i])+1); } return ans; } function countnndSay(n) { let res = "1" ; // res variable keep tracks of string // from 1 to n-1 // For loop iterates for n-1 time and generate strings // in sequence "1" -> "11" -> "21" -> "1211" for (let i = 1; i < n; i++) { res = generator(res); } return res; } // driver code let N = 5; document.write(countnndSay(N), "</br>" ); // This code is contributed by shinjanpatra </script> |
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Thanks to Utkarsh and Neeraj for suggesting the above solution.
Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or if you want to share more information about the topic discussed above
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