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  1. Prepare
  2. Algorithms
  3. Strings
  4. Alternating Characters
  5. Discussions

Alternating Characters

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1959 Discussions

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  • dorirgob
     + 0 comments

    Java: 

    public static int alternatingCharacters(String s) {
  if (s.length() <= 1) {
    return 0;
  }

  int deletions = 0;

  for (int i = 1; i < s.length(); i++) {
    if (s.charAt(i) == s.charAt(i - 1)) {
      deletions++;
    }
  }
  return deletions;
}

  • illogicalsleepi1
     + 0 comments
    def alternatingCharacters(s):
    b_s=s.split('A')
    a_s=s.split('B')
    print(a_s,b_s)
    ans=0
    for i in a_s:
        if 'A' in i :
            ans+=(len(i)-1)
    for j in b_s:
        if 'B' in j :
            ans+=(len(j)-1)
    return ans

    optimized version below

    def alternatingCharacters(s):
    deletions = 0 
    for i in range(1, len(s)):  
        if s[i] == s[i - 1]:  
            deletions += 1 
    return deletions

  • alban_tyrex
     + 0 comments

    Here are my c++ approaches of solving this, video explanation here : https://youtu.be/KoDlxS38_ig

    Solution 1 : Using loop

    int alternatingCharacters(string s) {
    int result = 0;
    for(int i = 1; i < s.size(); i++) if(s[i] == s[i-1]) result++;
    return result;
}

    Solution 2 : Using regex

    int alternatingCharacters(string s) {
    regex re("A{2,}|B{2,}");
    return s.size() - regex_replace(s, re, "*").size();
}

  • santhu1414
     + 0 comments

    def alternatingCharacters(s):

    lp=count=0
rp=1
while lp<len(s) and rp<len(s):
    if s[lp]==s[rp]:
        count+=1
    lp+=1
    rp+=1
return count

  • alex_k5
     + 0 comments
    def alternatingCharacters(s):
    s2 = re.sub(r'([AB])\1+', r'\1', s)
    return len(s) - len(s2)