Minimize the String by finding the shortest path from one end to another

Last Updated : 27 Jun, 2023

Given a string str representing a direct connection between arr[i] and arr[i+1] in the given string, the task is to minimize the string by finding the shortest path from one end to another end.

Examples:

Input: str = “ABDCEDZ”
Output: ABDZ
Explanation: Here our starting point is A and our ending point is Z So the shortest path is A->B->D->Z. In input, the movement is A->B->D->C->E->D->Z but we can move directly from D->Z, no need to move from D->C->E->D->Z so the final output is A->B->D->Z.

Input: str = “ABC”
Output: ABC
Explanation: here is the single path to move from A to C . A -> B -> C

Input: str = “ADBDE”
Output: ADE
Explanation: Starting point is A and the Ending point is E, Here we can see D connected with W so no need to move A->D->B->D->E just move A->D->E.

Approach: Follow the approach below to understand the implementation:

In this approach we use unordered_map to store the position of the character in output ‘ans’ string, whenever we get the same character we minimize our string ‘ans’.

Follow the steps to solve the problem:

Store the destination in a variable.
Take an unordered_map to store every character and its indexes.
If the current character is already present in the map means we have come to the same point again so erase our current answer string from that index to the last point.
When we get our destination character stop there and return the answer string.

Below is the code for the above approach:

C++

// C++ code to implement the approach
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Function which returns the minimized
// string
string minimizeString(string str)
{
    int n = str.length();
 
    // Last variable contains the
    // destination
    int last = str[n - 1];
 
    string ans = "";
 
    // map to store the position of
    // character in our answer string
    unordered_map<char, int> mp;
 
    // Traverse the given string 'str'
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
 
        // If we reach the destination
        // then return our 'ans' string
        // if find the destiny in middle
        // of string then no need to
        // traverse the whole string.
        if (str[i] == last) {
            ans += str[i];
            return ans;
        }
 
        // Insert position of newly added
        // character into map
        if (mp.find(str[i]) == mp.end()) {
            ans += str[i];
            mp[str[i]] = i;
        }
 
        // We get the same element again
        else {
 
            // Find the position of this
            // character in our 'ans'
            // string and just delete ans
            // string after that character
            // upto end.
            int pos = mp[str[i]];
            ans = ans.substr(0, pos + 1);
        }
    }
}
 
// Drivers code
int main()
{
 
    string str = "ABDCEDZ";
 
    // Function Call
    cout << minimizeString(str);
 
    return 0;
}

Java

// Java code to implement the approach
import java.util.*;
 
class GFG {
 
    // Function which returns the minimized string
    public static String minimizeString(String str)
    {
        int n = str.length();
 
        // Last variable contains the
        // destination
        int last = str.charAt(n - 1);
 
        StringBuilder ans = new StringBuilder();
 
        // map to store the position of
        // character in our answer string
        Map<Character, Integer> mp = new HashMap<>();
 
        // Traverse the given string 'str'
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
 
            // If we reach the destination
            // then return our 'ans' string
            // if find the destiny in middle
            // of string then no need to
            // traverse the whole string.
            if (str.charAt(i) == last) {
                ans.append(str.charAt(i));
                return ans.toString();
            }
 
            // Insert position of newly added
            // character into map
            if (!mp.containsKey(str.charAt(i))) {
                ans.append(str.charAt(i));
                mp.put(str.charAt(i), i);
            }
 
            // We get the same element again
            else {
 
                // Find the position of this
                // character in our 'ans'
                // string and just delete ans
                // string after that character
                // upto end.
                int pos = mp.get(str.charAt(i));
                ans.delete(pos + 1, ans.length());
            }
        }
        return ans.toString();
    }
 
    // Drivers code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        String str = "ABDCEDZ";
 
        // Function Call
        System.out.println(minimizeString(str));
    }
}
 
// This Code is Contributed by Prasad Kandekar(prasad264)

Python3

#  Python code to implement the approach
 
# Function which returns the minimized string
 
 
def minimizeString(s):
    n = len(s)
    last = s[n - 1]  # last variable contains the destination
    ans = ""
    mp = {}  # map to store the position of character in our answer string
 
    # Traverse the given string 's'
    for i in range(n):
        # If we reach the destination
        # then return our 'ans' string
        # if find the destiny in middle
        # of string then no need to
        # traverse the whole string.
        if s[i] == last:
            ans += s[i]
            return ans
 
        # Insert position of newly added
        # character into map
        if s[i] not in mp:
            ans += s[i]
            mp[s[i]] = i
 
        # We get the same element again
        else:
            # Find the position of this
            # character in our 'ans'
            # string and just delete ans
            # string after that character
            # upto end.
            pos = mp[s[i]]
            ans = ans[:pos + 1]
    return ans
 
 
# Drivers code
str = "ABDCEDZ"
# Function Call
print(minimizeString(str))
 
# This Code is Contributed by rutikbhosale

C#

// C# code to implement the approach
 
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
 
class Program {
    // Function which returns the minimized string
    static string MinimizeString(string str)
    {
        int n = str.Length;
 
        // Last variable contains the destination
        int last = str[n - 1];
 
        string ans = "";
 
        // map to store the position of character in our
        // answer string
        Dictionary<char, int> mp
            = new Dictionary<char, int>();
 
        // Traverse the given string 'str'
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
            // If we reach the destination
            // then return our 'ans' string
            // if find the destiny in middle
            // of string then no need to
            // traverse the whole string.
            if (str[i] == last) {
                ans += str[i];
                return ans;
            }
 
            // Insert position of newly added
            // character into map
            if (!mp.ContainsKey(str[i])) {
                ans += str[i];
                mp.Add(str[i], i);
            }
            // We get the same element again
            else {
                // Find the position of this
                // character in our 'ans'
                // string and just delete ans
                // string after that character
                // upto end.
                int pos = mp[str[i]];
                ans = ans.Substring(0, pos + 1);
            }
        }
        return ans;
    }
 
    // Drivers code
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
 
        string str = "ABDCEDZ";
 
        // Function Call
        Console.WriteLine(MinimizeString(str));
    }
}

Javascript

// Javascript code to implement the approach
 
// Function which returns the minimized
// string
function minimizeString(str) 
{
    const n = str.length;
     
    // Last variable contains the
    // destination
    const last = str[n - 1];
     
    let ans = "";
     
    // map to store the position of
    // character in our answer string
    const mp = new Map();
     
    // Traverse the given string 'str'
    for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        // If we reach the destination
        // then return our 'ans' string
        // if find the destiny in middle
        // of string then no need to
        // traverse the whole string.
        if (str[i] === last) {
            ans += str[i];
            return ans;
        }
 
        // Insert position of newly added
        // character into map
        if (!mp.has(str[i])) {
            ans += str[i];
            mp.set(str[i], i);
        }
     
        // We get the same element again
        else {
            // Find the position of this
            // character in our 'ans'
            // string and just delete ans
            // string after that character
            // upto end.
            const pos = mp.get(str[i]);
            ans = ans.substr(0, pos + 1);
        }
    }
    return ans;
}
 
// Drivers code
const str = "ABDCEDZ";
 
// Function Call
console.log(minimizeString(str));