C Coding Practice

Solve Basic String Compression using C Language

Solve Basic String Compression using C to enhance your skills with c coding practice , master coding concepts, and prepare for interviews with practical exercises and detailed solutions.

Basic String Compression

Difficulty : Easy

Categories :

  • Strings

Given a string s containing only lowercase letters, compress it by replacing consecutive repeated characters with the character followed by the count of repetitions. If the compressed string is not smaller than the original string, return the original string.


Constraints:

  • 1 ≤ s.length ≤ 1000
  • s consists of lowercase English letters only

Examples:

Input: "aabbbcccc"
Output: "a2b3c4"
Explanation: Two 'a's are replaced with 'a2', three 'b's with 'b3', and four 'c's with 'c4'.
Input: "abc"
Output: "abc"
Explanation: Since no character repeats, the compressed string (a1b1c1) would be longer than original string.
Input: "aaa"
Output: "a3"
Explanation: Three consecutive 'a's are compressed to 'a3'.

Input Format:

The input consists of a single line containing a JSON string.


Output Format:

Print a JSON string representing the compressed string if it's shorter than the original, otherwise print the original string.

Problem Solving

Input

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Choose from the following categories

Arrays A collection of elements stored in contiguous memory locations, allowing efficient random access and manipulation.

Linked Lists A linear data structure where each element (node) points to the next, offering dynamic memory allocation and efficient insertions/deletions.

Trees A hierarchical data structure with nodes connected by edges, used in applications like databases, file systems, and parsing.

Graphs A collection of nodes (vertices) connected by edges, representing relationships, widely used in networking, routing, and social networks.

Dynamic Programming An optimization technique that solves problems by breaking them into overlapping subproblems and storing their results.

Backtracking A problem-solving method that explores all possibilities recursively, backtracking when a solution is not feasible.

Sorting Algorithms Techniques for arranging elements in a specific order, such as quicksort, mergesort, and bubble sort, essential for data organization.

Searching Algorithms Methods for finding elements in a dataset, such as binary search, linear search, and graph traversal techniques.

Mathematics A field of study involving numbers, calculations, and logical reasoning, forming the foundation for algorithms and problem-solving.

Recursion A programming technique where a function calls itself to solve smaller instances of the same problem, often used in divide-and-conquer approaches.

Bit Manipulation Operations performed directly on binary representations of data, used for efficient computations and optimization tasks.