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Problem Statement for "StringCmp"

Problem Statement

We can try to compress the representation of a string of letters with a Run Length Encoding. This encoding represents a repeated character with a digit sequence giving the number of repetitions followed by the character. For example, "xb32c5d" represents a string which has 39 characters ("xbccc...cddddd"). A letter that is not immediately preceded by a digit sequence represents just that single character.

We want to be able to compare two Run Length Encodings to see if they represent the same string. Create a class StringCmp that contains the method firstDif that takes two encodings as inputs and returns the first index where the represented strings differ. If the represented strings are identical, return -1.

Definition

Class:
StringCmp
Method:
firstDif
Parameters:
String, String
Returns:
int
Method signature:
int firstDif(String code1, String code2)
(be sure your method is public)

Notes

  • "34ab", "1a0x033ab" and "a33ab" all represent the same String
  • return a 0-based index (if they differ in the first position, return 0)
  • if the strings match up to the point where one string continues but the other ends, return the length of the shorter one

Constraints

  • code1 contains between 1 and 50 characters inclusive
  • code2 contains between 1 and 50 characters inclusive
  • code1 and code2 contain only digits and lowercase letters 'a'-'z'
  • the last character in code1 is a letter
  • the last character in code2 is a letter
  • neither code1 nor code2 contains a sequence of more than 8 consecutive digits

Examples

  1. "98765432aa"

    "98765433a"

    Returns: -1

    The two represented strings are identical. Each has length = 98,765,433.

  2. "0c"

    "00d"

    Returns: -1

    The two represented strings are both empty strings

  3. "543e"

    "0f"

    Returns: 0

    The empty string is shorter. Its length is 0.

  4. "0a0b00c"

    "a2b0x2b1c"

    Returns: 0

  5. "13a10bc"

    "3a5aa3a1a2b0c2b3c"

    Returns: 17

  6. "a3bc"

    "ab04c"

    Returns: 2

    The two represented strings are "abbbc" and "abcccc"

  7. "09999999x99xyyz"

    "9999999x00099x2yyz"

    Returns: 10000100

  8. "abccccd3d2ddd4d4efg"

    "abcccc5d7d4e"

    Returns: 22

  9. "abccccd3d2ddd4d4efg"

    "abcccc5d7d4ef"

    Returns: 23

  10. "abccccd3d2ddd4d4efg"

    "ab1c1ccc5d7d4efg"

    Returns: -1

  11. "0a00b000c"

    "abc"

    Returns: 0

  12. "3ab"

    "ababab"

    Returns: 1

  13. "12345678a12345678a12345678ab"

    "37037034ab"

    Returns: -1

  14. "3a0b2cddd"

    "aaabccd"

    Returns: 3

  15. "a"

    "0a"

    Returns: 0

  16. "a"

    "2a"

    Returns: 1

  17. "a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0aa"

    "2a"

    Returns: -1

  18. "87436a34b22j3ckj34has"

    "87436a34b22j3ckj00000034has"

    Returns: -1

  19. "87436a34b22j3ckj34has"

    "87436a34b2j2j2j2j2j2j2j2j2j2j2j3ckj34has"

    Returns: -1

  20. "87436a34b22j3ckj34has"

    "87436a34b2j2j2j2j2j020j2j2j2j2j2j3ckj34has"

    Returns: 87492

  21. "87436a34b22j3ckj34has0s0h"

    "87436a34b2j2j2j2j2j02j2j2j2j2j2j3ckj34has"

    Returns: -1

  22. "87436a34b22j3ckj34has0h"

    "87436a34b2j2j2j2j2j02j2j2j2j2j2j3ckj34has"

    Returns: -1

  23. "ab"

    "abc"

    Returns: 2

  24. "a3bc23767h"

    "a3bc232h"

    Returns: 237

  25. "3a"

    "0b3a"

    Returns: -1

  26. "0a0b"

    "0c"

    Returns: -1

  27. "a"

    "b"

    Returns: 0

  28. "99999999aa99999999aa99999999aa99999999aa99999999a"

    "99999999aa99999999aa99999999aa99999999aa99999999aa"

    Returns: 499999999

  29. "0abbc"

    "0bbbd"

    Returns: 2

  30. "10000a"

    "100a"

    Returns: 100

  31. "5a"

    "6a"

    Returns: 5

  32. "3a3c3d"

    "0baaa0bccc0bddd"

    Returns: -1

  33. "aaa0baaa"

    "6a"

    Returns: -1

  34. "a0ba"

    "aa"

    Returns: -1

  35. "20a30ab"

    "50ac"

    Returns: 50

  36. "0a0b00a1a"

    "0b0a0a1a"

    Returns: -1

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