Minimum operation require to make first and last character same

Given a string S. You are allowed two types of operations: 

• Remove a character from the front of the string.
• Remove a character from the end of the string.

The task is to find the minimum operations required to make the first and last character of the S same. In case, it is not possible, print “-1”.

Examples:

Input : S = "bacdefghipalop"
Output : 4
Remove 'b' from the front and remove 'p', 'o',
'l' from the end of the string S.

Input : S = "pqr"
Output : -1

Approaches:

Recursive: Call a recursive function passing four arguments string, starting index, ending index and count of the number of eliminations still now.

Below is the implementation of the above approach: 

C++

// CPP program to minimum operation require
// to make first and last character same
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

const int MAX = INT_MAX;

// Recursive function call
int minOperation(string &s,int i,int j,int count)
{
    if((i>=s.size() && j<0) || (i == j))
        return MAX;
    if(s[i] == s[j])
        return count;

    // Decrement ending index only
    if(i >=s.size())
        return minOperation(s,i,j-1,count+1);

    // Increment starting index only
    else if(j<0)
        return minOperation(s,i+1,j,count+1);

    // Increment starting index and decrement index
    else
        return min(minOperation(s,i,j-1,count+1),minOperation(s,i+1,j,count+1));


}

// Driver code
int main() {

    string s = "bacdefghipalop";

    // Function call
    int ans = minOperation(s,0,s.size()-1,0);

    if(ans == MAX)
        cout<<-1;
    else
        cout<<ans;

    return 0;
}

Java

// Java program to minimum operation require
// to make first and last character same
import java.util.*;

class GFG
{

    static final int MAX = Integer.MAX_VALUE;

    // Recursive function call
    static int minOperation(String s, int i, int j, int count)
    {
        if ((i >= s.length() && j < 0) || (i == j))
            return MAX;

        if (s.charAt(i) == s.charAt(j))
            return count;

        // Decrement ending index only
        if (i >= s.length())
            return minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1);

        // Increment starting index only
        else if (j < 0)
            return minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1);

        // Increment starting index and decrement index
        else
            return Math.min(minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1),
                            minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1));
    }

    // Driver Code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        String s = "bacdefghipalop";

        // Function call
        int ans = minOperation(s, 0, s.length() - 1, 0);

        if (ans == MAX)
            System.out.println(-1);
        else
            System.out.println(ans);
    }
}

// This code is contributed by
// sanjeev2552

Python3

# Python3 program to minimum operation require
# to make first and last character same
import sys

MAX = sys.maxsize

# Recursive function call
def minOperation(s, i, j, count):

    if ((i >= len(s) and j < 0) or (i == j)):
        return MAX
    if (s[i] == s[j]):
        return count

    # Decrement ending index only
    if (i >=len(s)):
        return minOperation(s, i, j - 1,
                              count + 1)

    # Increment starting index only
    elif (j < 0):
        return minOperation(s, i + 1, j,
                           count + 1)

    # Increment starting index
    # and decrement index
    else:
        return min(minOperation(s, i, j - 1,
                                  count + 1),
                   minOperation(s, i + 1, j,
                               count + 1))

# Driver code
if __name__ == '__main__':

    s = "bacdefghipalop"

    # Function call
    ans = minOperation(s, 0, len(s) - 1, 0)

    if (ans == MAX):
        print(-1)
    else:
        print(ans)

# This code is contributed by mohit kumar 29

C#

// C# program to minimum operation require
// to make first and last character same
using System;
class GFG
{
  static int MAX = Int32.MaxValue;

  // Recursive function call
  static int minOperation(string s, int i, int j, int count)
  {
    if ((i >= s.Length && j < 0) || (i == j))
      return MAX;

    if (s[i] == s[j])
      return count;

    // Decrement ending index only
    if (i >= s.Length)
      return minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1);

    // Increment starting index only
    else if (j < 0)
      return minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1);

    // Increment starting index and decrement index
    else
      return Math.Min(minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1),
                      minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1));
  }

  // Driver Code
  public static void Main()
  {
    string s = "bacdefghipalop";

    // Function call
    int ans = minOperation(s, 0, s.Length - 1, 0);

    if (ans == MAX)
      Console.Write(-1);
    else
      Console.Write(ans);
  }
}

// This code is contributed by susmitakundugoaldanga

Javascript

<script>

// Javascript program to minimum operation require
// to make first and last character same

var MAX = 1000000000;

// Recursive function call
function minOperation( s,i,j,count)
{
    if((i>=s.length && j<0) || (i == j))
        return MAX;
    if(s[i] == s[j])
        return count;

    // Decrement ending index only
    if(i >=s.length)
        return minOperation(s,i,j-1,count+1);

    // Increment starting index only
    else if(j<0)
        return minOperation(s,i+1,j,count+1);

    // Increment starting index and decrement index
    else
        return Math.min(minOperation(s,i,j-1,count+1),
        minOperation(s,i+1,j,count+1));


}

// Driver code
var s = "bacdefghipalop";

// Function call
var ans = minOperation(s,0,s.length-1,0);

if(ans == MAX)
    document.write( -1);
else
    document.write( ans);

</script>

Output

4

Dynamic Programming: The idea is to prevent making further recursive calls for count>= Min once we found the Min during every recursive call. It saves a lot of time and is almost comparable to the tabulation method in terms of time complexity.

Implementation:

CPP

// CPP program to find minimum operation require
// to make first and last character same
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
const int MAX = INT_MAX;

// To store the visited strings
map <string,int> m;

int Min = INT_MAX;

// Function to find minimum operation require
// to make first and last character same
int minOperation(string &s,int i,int j,int count)
{
    // Base conditions
    if((i>=s.size() && j<0) || (i == j))
        return MAX;

    // If answer found
    if(s[i] == s[j] || (count >= Min))
        return count;

    string str = to_string(i) + "|"+to_string(j);

    // If string is already visited
    if(m.find(str) == m.end())
    {
        // Decrement ending index only
        if(i >=s.size())
        m[str]= minOperation(s,i,j-1,count+1);

        // Increment starting index only
        else if(j<0)
        m[str]= minOperation(s,i+1,j,count+1);

        // Increment starting index and decrement index
        else
        m[str]= min(minOperation(s,i,j-1,count+1),minOperation(s,i+1,j,count+1));
    }

    // Store the minimum value
    if(m[str] < Min)
            Min = m[str];
    return m[str];

}

// Driver code
int main()
{
    string s = "bacdefghipalop";

    // Function call
    int ans = minOperation(s,0,s.size()-1,0);

    if(ans == MAX)
        cout<<-1;
    else
        cout<<ans;
}

Java

// Java program to find minimum operation require
// to make first and last character same
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
class GFG
{
    static int MAX = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
    static HashMap<String, Integer> m = new HashMap<>();
    static int Min = Integer.MAX_VALUE;

    // Function to find minimum operation require
    // to make first and last character same
    static int minOperation(String s,int i,int j,int count)
    {

        // Base conditions
        if((i >= s.length() && j < 0)|| (i == j))
        {
            return MAX;
        }

        // If answer found
        if(s.charAt(i) == s.charAt(j) || (count >= Min))
        {
            return count;
        }
        String str = String.valueOf(i) + "|" + String.valueOf(j);

      // If string is already visited
        if(!m.containsKey(str))
        {

          // Decrement ending index only
            if(i >= s.length())
            {
                m.put(str,minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1));
            }

            // Increment starting index only
            else if(j < 0)
            {
                m.put(str,minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1));
            }

            // Increment starting index and decrement index
            else
            {
                m.put(str,Math.min(minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1), minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1)));
            }
        }

        // Store the minimum value
        if(m.get(str) < Min)
        {
            Min = m.get(str);

        }
        return m.get(str);
    }

    // Driver code
    public static void main (String[] args)
    {
        String s = "bacdefghipalop";

        // Function call
        int ans=minOperation(s, 0, s.length() - 1, 0);
        if(ans == MAX)
        {
            System.out.println(-1);
        }
        else
        {
            System.out.println(ans);
        }

    }
}

// This code is contributed by rag2127

Python3

# Python program to find minimum operation require
# to make first and last character same
import sys
MAX = sys.maxsize

# To store the visited strings
m = {}
Min = sys.maxsize

# Function to find minimum operation require
# to make first and last character same
def minOperation(s, i, j, count):
    global Min, MAX

    # Base conditions
    if((i >= len(s) and j < 0) or (i == j)):
        return MAX

    # If answer found
    if(s[i] == s[j] or count >= Min):
        return count
    Str = str(i) + "|" + str(j)

    # If string is already visited
    if Str not in m:

        # Decrement ending index only
        if(i >= len(s)):
            m[Str] = minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1)

        # Increment starting index only
        elif(j < 0):
            m[Str] = minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1)

        # Increment starting index and decrement index
        else:
            m[Str] = min(minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1), minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1))

    # Store the minimum value
    if(m[Str] < Min):
        Min = m[Str]
    return m[Str]

# Driver code
s = "bacdefghipalop"

# Function call
ans = minOperation(s, 0, len(s) - 1, 0)
if(ans == MAX):
    print(-1)
else:
    print(ans)

# This code is contributed by avanitrachhadiya2155

C#

// C# program to find minimum operation require
// to make first and last character same
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class GFG
{

    static int MAX = Int32.MaxValue;
    static Dictionary<string, int> m = new Dictionary<string, int>();
    static int Min = Int32.MaxValue;

    // Function to find minimum operation require
    // to make first and last character same
    static int minOperation(string s,int i,int j,int count)
    {

        // Base conditions
        if((i >= s.Length && j < 0)|| (i == j))
        {
            return MAX;
        }

        // If answer found
        if(s[i] == s[j] || (count >= Min))
        {
            return count;
        }
        string str = i.ToString() + "|" + j.ToString();

        // If string is already visited
        if(!m.ContainsKey(str))
        {

          // Decrement ending index only
            if(i >= s.Length)
            {
                m[str] = minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1);
            }

            // Increment starting index only
            else if(j < 0)
            {
                m[str] = minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1);
            }

            // Increment starting index and decrement index
            else
            {
                m[str] = Math.Min(minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1), minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1));
            }
        }

        // Store the minimum value
        if(m[str] < Min)
        {
            Min = m[str];

        }
        return m[str];
    }

  // Driver code
  static void Main()
  {
    string s = "bacdefghipalop";

    // Function call
    int ans=minOperation(s, 0, s.Length - 1, 0);
    if(ans == MAX)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(-1);
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine(ans);
    }
  }
}

// This code is contributed by divyesh072019

Javascript

<script>
// Javascript program to find minimum operation require
// to make first and last character same
    let MAX = Number.MAX_VALUE;
    let m = new Map();
    let Min = Number.MAX_VALUE;

    // Function to find minimum operation require
    // to make first and last character same
    function minOperation(s, i, j, count)
    {

        // Base conditions
        if((i >= s.length && j < 0)|| (i == j))
        {
            return MAX;
        }

        // If answer found
        if(s[i] == s[j] || (count >= Min))
        {
            return count;
        }
        let str = (i).toString() + "|" + (j).toString();

      // If string is already visited
        if(!m.has(str))
        {

          // Decrement ending index only
            if(i >= s.length)
            {
                m.set(str,minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1));
            }

            // Increment starting index only
            else if(j < 0)
            {
                m.set(str,minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1));
            }

            // Increment starting index and decrement index
            else
            {
                m.set(str,Math.min(minOperation(s, i, j - 1, count + 1), minOperation(s, i + 1, j, count + 1)));
            }
        }

        // Store the minimum value
        if(m.get(str) < Min)
        {
            Min = m.get(str);

        }
        return m.get(str);
    }

    // Driver code
    let s = "bacdefghipalop";

    // Function call
        let ans=minOperation(s, 0, s.length - 1, 0);
        if(ans == MAX)
        {
            document.write(-1);
        }
        else
        {
            document.write(ans);
        }

// This code is contributed by unknown2108
</script>

Output

4

Dynamic programming with Tabulation:

The idea is to find the first and last occurrences of each character in the string. The total amount of operations needed will be simply “number of operations needed to remove the first occurrence” plus “number of operations needed to remove the last occurrence”. So, do this for each character in the string and the answer will be a minimum of such operations performed on each character.

For example, S = “zabcdefghaabbbb”, calculate the operations required to have character ‘a’ at both the front and the end, meaning to say the string “a….a”. For the minimum number of operations, we will form the string “abcdefghaa” i.e we will remove one character ‘z’ from front and 4 characters ‘bbbb’ from back. Hence total 5 operations will be required. 

So, apply the above algorithm for each character and hence we can then find the minimum of those operations.

Implementation:

C++

// C++ program to find minimum operation
// require to make first and last character same
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
#define MAX 256

// Return the minimum operation require
// to make string first and last character same.
int minimumOperation(string s)
{
    int n = s.length();

    // Store indexes of first occurrences of characters.
    vector<int> first_occ(MAX, -1);

    // Initialize result
    int res = INT_MAX;

    // Traverse through all characters
    for (int i=0; i<n; i++)
    {
        // Find first occurrence
        char x = s[i];
        if (first_occ[x] == -1)
        first_occ[x] = i;

        // Update result for subsequent occurrences
        else
        {
        int last_occ = (n-i-1);
        res = min(res, first_occ[x] + last_occ);
        }
    }
    return res;
}

// Driven Program
int main()
{
    string s = "bacdefghipalop";
    cout << minimumOperation(s) << endl;
    return 0;
}

Java

// Java program to find minimum
// operation require to make
// first and last character same

import java.util.*;
import java.lang.*;
import java.io.*;

class GFG{

static final int MAX=256;

// Return the minimum operation requires to
// make string first and last character same.
static int minimumOperation(String s)
{
    int n = s.length();

    // Store indexes of first occurrences of characters.
    Vector<Integer> first_occ=new Vector<Integer>();

    //Initialize all the elements to -1
    for(int i=0;i<MAX;i++)
    first_occ.add(i,-1);

    // Initialize result
    int res = Integer.MAX_VALUE;

    // Traverse through all characters
    for (int i=0; i<n; i++)
    {
        // Find first occurrence
        int x = (int)s.charAt(i);
        if (first_occ.elementAt(x) == -1)
        first_occ.set(x,i);

        // Update result for subsequent occurrences
        else
        {
        int last_occ = (n-i-1);
        res = Math.min(res, first_occ.get(x) + last_occ);
        }
    }
    return res;
}

// Driven Program
public static void main(String args[])
{
    String s = "bacdefghipalop";
    System.out.println(minimumOperation(s));
}
}

Python3

# Python3 program to find minimum operation
# require to make first and last character same
MAX = 256

# Return the minimum operation require to
# make string first and last character same.
def minimumOperation(s):

    n = len(s)

    # Store indexes of first
    # occurrences of characters.
    first_occ = [-1] * MAX

    # Initialize result
    res = float('inf')

    # Traverse through all characters
    for i in range(0, n):

        # Find first occurrence
        x = s[i]
        if first_occ[ord(x)] == -1:
            first_occ[ord(x)] = i

        # Update result for subsequent occurrences
        else:
            last_occ = n - i - 1
            res = min(res, first_occ[ord(x)] + last_occ)

    return res

# Driver Code
if __name__ == "__main__":

    s = "bacdefghipalop"
    print(minimumOperation(s))

# This code is contributed by Rituraj Jain

C#

// C# program to find minimum
// operation require to make
// first and last character same
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

class GFG
{

static int MAX = 256;

// Return the minimum operation requires to
// make string first and last character same.
static int minimumOperation(String s)
{
    int n = s.Length;

    // Store indexes of first occurrences of characters.
    List<int> first_occ = new List<int>();

    //Initialize all the elements to -1
    for(int i = 0; i < MAX; i++)
    first_occ.Insert(i,-1);

    // Initialize result
    int res = int.MaxValue;

    // Traverse through all characters
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
    {
        // Find first occurrence
        int x = (int)s[i];
        if (first_occ[x] == -1)
        first_occ.Insert(x,i);

        // Update result for subsequent occurrences
        else
        {
            int last_occ = (n - i - 1);
            res = Math.Min(res, first_occ[x] + last_occ);
        }
    }
    return res;
}

// Driver code
public static void Main(String []args)
{
    String s = "bacdefghipalop";
    Console.WriteLine(minimumOperation(s));
}
}

// This code contributed by Rajput-Ji

Javascript

<script>

// JavaScript program to find minimum operation
// require to make first and last character same

const MAX = 256

// Return the minimum operation require
// to make string first and last character same.
function minimumOperation(s)
{
    let n = s.length;

    // Store indexes of first occurrences of characters.
    let first_occ = new Array(MAX).fill(-1);

    // Initialize result
    let res = Number.MAX_VALUE;

    // Traverse through all characters
    for (let i=0; i<n; i++)
    {
        // Find first occurrence
        let x = s.charCodeAt(i);
        if (first_occ[x] == -1)
            first_occ[x] = i;

        // Update result for subsequent occurrences
        else
        {
            let last_occ = (n-i-1);
            res = Math.min(res, first_occ[x] + last_occ);
        }
    }
    return res;
}

// Driven Program

let s = "bacdefghipalop";
document.write(minimumOperation(s));

// This code is contributed by shinjanpatra

</script>

Output

4

Time Complexity: O(n)