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Java: Find the longest substring without any number and at least one upper case character

Came across a programming exercise and was stuck. The problem is:
You need to define a valid password for an email but the only
restrictions are:
The password must contain one uppercase character
The password should not have numeric digit
Now, given a String, find the length of the longest substring which
is a valid password. For e.g Input Str = "a0Ba" , the output should
be 2 as "Ba" is the valid substring.
I used the concept of longest substring without repeating characters which I already did before but was unable to modify it to find the solution to above problem. My code for longest substring without repeating characters is:
public int lengthOfLongestSubstring(String s) {
int n = s.length();
Set<Character> set = new HashSet<>();
int ans = 0, i = 0, j = 0;
while (i < n && j < n) {
// try to extend the range [i, j]
if (!set.contains(s.charAt(j))){
set.add(s.charAt(j++));
ans = Math.max(ans, j - i);
}
else {
set.remove(s.charAt(i++));
}
}
return ans;
}

How about
final String input = "a0Ba";
final int answer = Arrays.stream(input.split("[0-9]+"))
.filter(s -> s.matches("(.+)?[A-Z](.+)?"))
.sorted((s1, s2) -> s2.length() - s1.length())
.findFirst()
.orElse("")
.length();
out.println(answer);
Arrays.stream(input.split("[0-9]+")) splits the original string into an array of strings. The separator is any sequence of numbers (numbers aren't allowed so they serve as separators). Then, a stream is created so I can apply functional operations and transformations.
.filter(s -> s.matches("(.+)?[A-Z](.+)?")) keeps into the stream only strings that have at least one upper-case letter.
.sorted((s1, s2) -> s2.length() - s1.length()) sorts the stream by length (desc).
.findFirst() tries to get the first string of the stream.
.orElse("") returns an empty string if no string was found.
.length(); gets the length of the string.

I suggest that you split your String to have an array of strings without digit:
yourString.split("[0-9]")
Then iterate over this array (says array a) to get the longest string that contains one Upper case character:
a[i].matches("[a-z]*[A-Z]{1}[a-z]*");

You can use a simple array. The algorithm to use would be a dynamic sliding window. Here is an example of a static sliding window: What is a Sliding Window
The algorithm should be as follows:
Keep track of 2 indexes of the array of char. These 2 indexes will be referred to as front and back here, representing the front and back of the array.
Have an int (I'll name it up here) to keep track of the number of upper case char.
Set all to 0.
Use a while loop that terminates if front > N where N is the number of char given.
If the next char is not a number, add 1 to front. Then check if that char is upper case. If so, add 1 to up.
If up is at least 1, update the maximum length if necessary.
If the next char is a number, continue checking the following char if they are also numbers. Set front to the first index where the char is not a number and back to front-1.
Output the maximum length.

You can use my solution which runs in O(n) time and finds the longest part without any digit and with a capital letter:
String testString = "skjssldfkjsakdfjlskdssfkjslakdfiop7adfaijsldifjasdjfil8klsasdfŞdijpfjapodifjpoaidjfpoaidjpfi9a";
int startIndex = 0;
int longestStartIndex = 0;
int endIndex = 0;
int index = 0;
int longestLength = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
boolean foundUpperCase = false;
while(index <= testString.length()) {
if (index == testString.length() || Character.isDigit(testString.charAt(index))) {
if (foundUpperCase && index > startIndex && index - startIndex > longestLength) {
longestLength = index - startIndex;
endIndex = index;
longestStartIndex = startIndex;
}
startIndex = index + 1;
foundUpperCase = false;
} else if (Character.isUpperCase(testString.charAt(index))) {
foundUpperCase = true;
}
index++;
}
System.out.println(testString.substring(longestStartIndex, endIndex));

You don't need regular expressions. Just use a few integers to act as index pointers into the string:
int i = 0;
int longestStart = 0;
int longestEnd = 0;
while (i < s.length()) {
// Skip past all the digits.
while (i < s.length() && Character.isDigit(s.charAt(i))) {
++i;
}
// i now points to the start of a substring
// or one past the end of the string.
int start = i;
// Keep a flag to record if there is an uppercase character.
boolean hasUppercase = false;
// Increment i until you hit another digit or the end of the string.
while (i < s.length() && !Character.isDigit(s.charAt(i))) {
hasUppercase |= Character.isUpperCase(s.charAt(i));
++i;
}
// Check if this is longer than the longest so far.
if (hasUppercase && i - start > longestEnd - longestStart) {
longestEnd = i;
longestStart = start;
}
}
String longest = s.substring(longestStart, longestEnd);
Ideone demo
Whilst more verbose than regular expressions, this has the advantage of not creating any unnecessary objects: the only object created is the longest string, right at the end.

I am using modification of Kadane algorithm to search the required password length. You may use isNumeric() and isCaps() function or include inline if statements. I have shown below with functions.
public boolean isNumeric(char x){
return (x>='0'&&x<='9');
}
public boolean isCaps(char x){
return (x>='A'&&x<='Z');
}
public int maxValidPassLen(String a)
{
int max_so_far = 0, max_ending_here = 0;
boolean cFlag = false;
int max_len = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < a.length(); i++)
{
max_ending_here = max_ending_here + 1;
if (isCaps(a.charAt(i))){
cFlag = true;
}
if (isNumeric(a.charAt(i))){
max_ending_here = 0;
cFlag = false;
}
else if (max_so_far<max_ending_here){
max_so_far = max_ending_here;
}
if(cFlag&&max_len<max_so_far){
max_len = max_so_far;
}
}
return max_len;
}
Hope this helps.

There are plenty of good answers here but thought it might be of interest to add one that uses Java 8 streams:
IntStream.range(0, s.length()).boxed()
.flatMap(b -> IntStream.range(b + 1, s.length())
.mapToObj(e -> s.substring(b, e)))
.filter(t -> t.codePoints().noneMatch(Character::isDigit))
.filter(t -> t.codePoints().filter(Character::isUpperCase).count() == 1)
.mapToInt(String::length).max();
If you wanted the string (rather than just the length), then the last line can be replaced with:
.max(Comparator.comparingInt(String::length));
Which returns an Optional<String>.

I'd use Streams and Optionals:
public static String getBestPassword(String password) throws Exception {
if (password == null) {
throw new Exception("Invalid password");
}
Optional<String> bestPassword = Stream.of(password.split("[0-9]"))
.filter(TypeErasure::containsCapital)
.sorted((o1, o2) -> o1.length() > o2.length() ? 1 : 0)
.findFirst();
if (bestPassword.isPresent()) {
return bestPassword.get();
} else {
throw new Exception("No valid password");
}
}
/**
* Returns true if word contains capital
*/
private static boolean containsCapital(String word) {
return word.chars().anyMatch(Character::isUpperCase);
}
Be sure to write some unit tests

public String pass(String str){
int length = 0;
boolean uppercase = false;
String s= "";
String d= "";
for(int i=0;i<str.length();i++){
if(Character.isUpperCase(str.charAt(i)) == true){
uppercase = true;
s = s+str.charAt(i);
}else if(Character.isDigit(str.charAt(i)) == true ){
if(uppercase == true && s.length()>length){
d = s;
s = "";
length = s.length();
uppercase = false;
}
}else if(i==str.length()-1&&Character.isDigit(str.charAt(i))==false){
s = s + str.charAt(i);
if(uppercase == true && s.length()>length){
d = s;
s = "";
length = s.length();
uppercase = false;
}
}else{
s = s+str.charAt(i);
}
}
return d;}

Here is a simple solution with Scala
def solution(str: String): Int = {
val strNoDigit = str.replaceAll("[0-9]", "-")
strAlphas = strNoDigit.split("-")
Try(strAlphas.filter(_.trim.find(_.isUpper).isDefined).maxBy(_.size))
.toOption
.map(_.length)
.getOrElse(-1)
}

Another solution using tail recursion in Scala
def solution2(str: String): Int = {
val subSt = new ListBuffer[Char]
def checker(str: String): Unit = {
if (str.nonEmpty) {
val s = str.head
if (!s.isDigit) {
subSt += s
} else {
subSt += '-'
}
checker(str.tail)
}
}
checker(str)
if (subSt.nonEmpty) {
val noDigitStr = subSt.mkString.split("-")
Try(noDigitStr.filter(s => s.nonEmpty && s.find(_.isUpper).isDefined).maxBy(_.size))
.toOption
.map(_.length)
.getOrElse(-1)
} else {
-1
}
}

This is a dynamic programming problem. You can solve this yourself using a matrix. It is easy enough. Just give it a try. Take the characters of the password as the rows and columns of the matrix. Add the diagonals if the current character appended to the last character forms a valid password. Start with the smallest valid password as the initial condition.

String[] s = testString.split("[0-9]");
int length = 0;
int index = -1;
for(int i=0; i< s.length; i++){
if(s[i].matches("[a-z]*.*[A-Z].*[a-z]*")){
if(length <= s[i].length()){
length = s[i].length();
index = i;
}
}
}
if(index >= 0){
System.out.println(s[index]);
}

//easiest way to do it:
String str = "a0Ba12hgKil8oPlk";
String[] str1 = str.split("[0-9]+");
List<Integer> in = new ArrayList<Integer>();
for (int i = 0; i < str1.length; i++) {
if (str1[i].matches("(.+)?[A-Z](.+)?")) {
in.add(str1[i].length());
} else {
System.out.println(-1);
}
}
Collections.sort(in);
System.out.println("string : " + in.get(in.size() - 1));

This is my solution with c#. I tested a range of strings and it gave me the correct value. Used Split. No Regex or Substrings. Let me know if it works; open to improvements and corrections.
public static int validPassword(string str)
{
List<int> strLength = new List<int>();
if (!(str.All(Char.IsDigit)))
{
//string str = "a0Bb";
string[] splitStrs = str.Split(new char[] { '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9' });
//check if each string contains a upper case
foreach (string s in splitStrs)
{
//Console.WriteLine(s);
if (s.Any(char.IsUpper) && s.Any(char.IsLower) || s.Any(char.IsUpper))
{
strLength.Add(s.Length);
}
}
if (strLength.Count == 0)
{
return -1;
}
foreach (int i in strLength)
{
//Console.WriteLine(i);
}
return strLength.Max();
}
else
{
return -1;
}
}

I think this solution takes care of all the possible corner cases. It passed all the test cases in an Online Judge. It is a dynamic sliding window O(n) solution.
public class LongestString {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// String testString = "AabcdDefghIjKL0";
String testString = "a0bb";
int startIndex = 0, endIndex = 0;
int previousUpperCaseIndex = -1;
int maxLen = 0;
for (; endIndex < testString.length(); endIndex++) {
if (Character.isUpperCase(testString.charAt(endIndex))) {
if (previousUpperCaseIndex > -1) {
maxLen = Math.max(maxLen, endIndex - startIndex);
startIndex = previousUpperCaseIndex + 1;
}
previousUpperCaseIndex = endIndex;
} else if (Character.isDigit(testString.charAt(endIndex))) {
if (previousUpperCaseIndex > -1) {
maxLen = Math.max(maxLen, endIndex - startIndex);
}
startIndex = endIndex + 1;
previousUpperCaseIndex = -1;
}
}
if (previousUpperCaseIndex > -1)
maxLen = Math.max(maxLen, endIndex - startIndex);
System.out.println(maxLen);
}}

function ValidatePassword(password){
var doesContainNumber = false;
var hasUpperCase = false;
for(var i=0;i<password.length;i++){
if(!isNaN(password[i]))
doesContainNumber = true;
if(password[i] == password[i].toUpperCase())
hasUpperCase = true;
}
if(!doesContainNumber && hasUpperCase)
return true;
else
return false;
}
function GetLongestPassword(inputString){
var longestPassword = "";
for(var i=0;i<inputString.length-1;i++)
{
for (var j=i+1;j<inputString.length;j++)
{
var substring = inputString.substring(i,j+1);
var isValid = ValidatePassword(substring);
if(isValid){
if(substring.length > longestPassword.length)
{
longestPassword = substring;
}
}
}
}
if(longestPassword == "")
{
return "No Valid Password found";
}
else
{
return longestPassword;
}
}

Greatest number of consecutive vowels

I'm trying to write a function that takes in a String and returns the greatest number of consecutive equivalent vowels in the String.
Here's my attempt:
public static final String VOWELS = "aeiou";
public static int consecutiveVowelsInLine(String line) {
int longestVowels = 0;
int candidateLength = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < line.length() - 1; i++) {
if (isVowel(line.charAt(i))) {
if (line.charAt(i) == line.charAt(i+1)) {
candidateLength++;
}
} else {
candidateLength = 0;
}
longestVowels = Math.max(longestVowels, candidateLength);
}
return longestVowels;
}
public static boolean isVowel(char c) {
VOWELS.contains(c.toLowerCase());
}
The problem is this doesn't handle the case where the String is a single character that's a vowel. So if the String is just "a", my code gives back 0 instead of 1.
As said before, the vowels have to be the same.
Testcases:
a -> 1
b -> 0
ae -> 1
aeae -> 1
aab -> 2
aba -> 1
abee -> 2

I think you aim to do too much in the loop: instead of looking to the character next, concentrate on the current character and maintain a state that stores the previous vowel:
public static int consecutiveVowelsInLine(String line) {
int longestVowels = 0;
int candidateLength = 0;
char vowel = 'b'; //b is not a vowel
for (int i = 0; i < line.length(); i++) {
char ci = line.charAt(i);
if (isVowel(ci)) {
if (ci == vowel) { //the same as the other one
candidateLength++;
} else {
candidateLength = 1;
}
vowel = ci;
} else {
candidateLength = 0;
vowel = 'b';
}
longestVowels = Math.max(longestVowels, candidateLength);
}
return longestVowels;
}
Here vowel stores the current vowel sequences you are working with. In the beginning we use b, simple because that is not a vowe. In case we encounter a vowel, that vowel is stores in vowel and we update the candidateLength accordingly. In case we encounter a non-vowel, we set vowel back to b (or another non-vowel).
Demo:
There were some problems with your isVowel method as well, a running implementation with a few testcases can be found here.

Here's one problem:
if (line.charAt(i) == line.charAt(i+1)) {
candidateLength++;
}
If the string is only one character, you're checking the character against null. Add a check, something like this:
if (line.length() == 1 && isVowel(line.charAt(0)) {
etc.
}

Simply change it like:
public static int consecutiveVowelsInLine( String line ){
int result = findConsecutiveMaxValue( line );
if( result == 0 ){
result = findSingleVowel( line );
}
return result;
}
private static int findSingleVowel( String line ){
for( int i = 0; i < line.length(); i++ ){
if( isVowel( line.charAt( i ) ) ){ return 1; }
}
return 0;
}
private static int findConsecutiveMaxValue( String line ){
int longestVowels = 0;
int candidateLength = 0;
for( int i = 0; i < line.length() - 1; i++ ){
if( isVowel( line.charAt( i ) ) ){
if( line.charAt( i ) == line.charAt( i + 1 ) ){
candidateLength++;
}
}
else{
candidateLength = 0;
}
longestVowels = Math.max( longestVowels, candidateLength );
}
return longestVowels;
}

Change:
if (line.charAt(i) == line.charAt(i+1)) {
candidateLength++;
}
to:
if (candidateLength == 0 || line.charAt(i) == line.charAt(i-1)) {
candidateLength++;
}
Additionally the condition in for() loop looks suspicious - use getLength() instead of getLength()-1.

How could I solve this error, with my string to equation convertin calculator?

I'm writing a calculator code that solves the input whats given in string. All is good, except when it gets a negative result in the parentheses it fails badly because two operations get next to each other:
1+2*(10-11) >> 1+2*(-1) >> 1+2*-1
So where *- is, it gets "" (nothing) in the BigDecimal's constructor.
I know what's the problem, but how can I solve it?
import java.math.BigDecimal;
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class DoMath {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Test equation goes here.
String number = "95.3+43.23*(10-11.1)";
System.out.println(doMath(number));
}
public static BigDecimal doMath(String input) {
StringBuilder builtInput = new StringBuilder(input);
StringBuilder help = new StringBuilder();
// Check if there are parenthesis in the equation.
boolean noParenthesis = true;
for (int i = 0; i < builtInput.length(); i++) {
if (builtInput.charAt(i) == 40) {
noParenthesis = false;
break;
}
}
if (noParenthesis) { // If there are no parenthesis, calculate the equation!
return calculateAndConvert(builtInput);
} else { // If there are parenthesis, breakdown to simple equations!
int parenthesePair = 0;
// Start extracting characters from the builtInput variable.
for (int i = 0; i < builtInput.length(); i++) {
// Start where we find a parentheses opener.
if (builtInput.charAt(i) == 40) {
parenthesePair = 1;
builtInput.deleteCharAt(i);
for (int j = i; j < builtInput.length(); j++) {
// If we find another opener, add one to parenthesePair variable.
if (builtInput.charAt(j) == 40) {
parenthesePair++;
}
// If we find a closer, subtract one from the given variable.
if (builtInput.charAt(j) == 41) {
parenthesePair--;
}
// If we have found the matching pair, delete it and break the for loop.
if (parenthesePair == 0) {
builtInput.deleteCharAt(j);
builtInput.insert(j, doMath(help.toString()));
break;
}
help.append(builtInput.charAt(j));
builtInput.deleteCharAt(j);
j--;
}
break;
}
}
}
System.out.println(builtInput);
return doMath(builtInput.toString());
}
public static BigDecimal calculateAndConvert(StringBuilder input) {
ArrayList<BigDecimal> listOfNumbers = new ArrayList<BigDecimal>();
StringBuilder numBay = new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder operations = new StringBuilder();
// If the first character is -, the first number is negative.
boolean firstIsNegative = false;
if (input.charAt(0) == 45) {
firstIsNegative = true;
input.deleteCharAt(0);
}
// Converting to numbers.
while (input.length() != 0) {
// If the character is a number or a dot, put it in the numBay variable and delete the char.
if (input.charAt(0) >= 48 && input.charAt(0) <= 57 || input.charAt(0) == 46) {
numBay.append(input.charAt(0));
// If the character is not a number, put it in the operations variable
// and save the number in the list (not operator characters are filtered)
} else {
listOfNumbers.add(new BigDecimal(numBay.toString()));
numBay.setLength(0);
operations.append(input.charAt(0));
}
// Delete the character.
input.deleteCharAt(0);
}
listOfNumbers.add(new BigDecimal(numBay.toString()));
// Setting first number to negative if it's needed.
if (firstIsNegative) {
listOfNumbers.set(0, listOfNumbers.get(0).negate());
}
// Calculate the result from the list and operations and return it.
return calculate(listOfNumbers, operations);
}
public static BigDecimal calculate(ArrayList<BigDecimal> list, StringBuilder ops) {
BigDecimal momentaryResult;
// Check for a multiply operation - if there is one, solve it.
for (int i = 0; i < ops.length(); i++) {
if (ops.charAt(i) == 42) {
momentaryResult = list.get(i).multiply(list.get(i + 1));
list.remove(i);
list.set(i, momentaryResult);
ops.deleteCharAt(i);
i--;
}
}
// Check for a divide operation - if there is one, solve it.
for (int i = 0; i < ops.length(); i++) {
if (ops.charAt(i) == 47) {
momentaryResult = list.get(i).divide(list.get(i + 1));
list.remove(i);
list.set(i, momentaryResult);
ops.deleteCharAt(i);
i--;
}
}
// Check for a subtract operation - if there is one, solve it.
for (int i = 0; i < ops.length(); i++) {
if (ops.charAt(i) == 45) {
momentaryResult = list.get(i).subtract(list.get(i + 1));
list.remove(i);
list.set(i, momentaryResult);
ops.deleteCharAt(i);
i--;
}
}
// Check for a plus operation - if there is one, solve it.
for (int i = 0; i < ops.length(); i++) {
if (ops.charAt(i) == 43) {
momentaryResult = list.get(i).add(list.get(i + 1));
list.remove(i);
list.set(i, momentaryResult);
ops.deleteCharAt(i);
i--;
}
}
// Return with the one remaining number that represents the result.
return list.get(0);
}
}
Edit: or would it be easier to write a new code with a different algorithm...?

I would post this as a comment to your question, but I do not have the required reputation to do so.
Anyway, since you have already recognized that the bug is the "operator" *- couldn't you make a method that would fix this problem by replacing the plus operator immediately before by a minus? Like this:
1+2*-1 >>> 1-2*1
If you want I can write you the code. But maybe it will be easier for you to adapt a solution like this in your code that is already working.
Edit - 1:
Obviously, the code should also treat the following cases:
1-2*-1 >>> 1+2*1
2*-1 >>> -2*1
Edit - 2:
Here is the code I managed to make. Let me know if you find any errors.
public int countChar(String str, char chr) {
int count = 0;
for (int k = 0; k < str.length(); k++) {
if (str.charAt(k) == chr)
count++;
}
return count;
}
public String fixBug(String eq) {
boolean hasBug = eq.contains("*-");
if (hasBug) {
String subeq;
int indbug, indp, indm;
eq = eq.replace("*-", "#");
int N = countChar(eq, '#');
for (int k = N; k > 0; k--) {
indbug = eq.indexOf('#');
subeq = eq.substring(0, indbug);
indp = subeq.lastIndexOf('+');
indm = subeq.lastIndexOf('-');
if (indp == -1 && indm == -1) {
eq = "-" + eq;
} else if (indp > indm) {
eq = eq.substring(0, indp) + '-' + eq.substring(indp + 1);
} else {
eq = eq.substring(0, indm) + '+' + eq.substring(indm + 1);
}
}
eq = eq.replace("#", "*");
}
return eq;
}

Compression algorithm in java

My goal is to write a program that compresses a string, for example:
input: hellooopppppp!
output:he2l3o6p!
Here is the code I have so far, but there are errors.
When I have the input: hellooo
my code outputs: hel2l3o
instead of: he213o
the 2 is being printed in the wrong spot, but I cannot figure out how to fix this.
Also, with an input of: hello
my code outputs: hel2l
instead of: he2lo
It skips the last letter in this case all together, and the 2 is also in the wrong place, an error from my first example.
Any help is much appreciated. Thanks so much!
public class compressionTime
{
public static void main(String [] args)
{
System.out.println ("Enter a string");
//read in user input
String userString = IO.readString();
//store length of string
int length = userString.length();
System.out.println(length);
int count;
String result = "";
for (int i=1; i<=length; i++)
{
char a = userString.charAt(i-1);
count = 1;
if (i-2 >= 0)
{
while (i<=length && userString.charAt(i-1) == userString.charAt(i-2))
{
count++;
i++;
}
System.out.print(count);
}
if (count==1)
result = result.concat(Character.toString(a));
else
result = result.concat(Integer.toString(count).concat(Character.toString(a)));
}
IO.outputStringAnswer(result);
}
}

I would
count from 0 as that is how indexes work in Java. Your code will be simpler.
would compare the current char to the next one. This will avoid printing the first character.
wouldn't compress ll as 2l as it is no smaller. Only sequences of at least 3 will help.
try to detect if a number 3 to 9 has been used and at least print an error.
use the debugger to step through the code to understand what it is doing and why it doesn't do what you think it should.

I am doing it this way. Very simple:
public static void compressString (String string) {
StringBuffer stringBuffer = new StringBuffer();
for (int i = 0; i < string.length(); i++) {
int count = 1;
while (i + 1 < string.length()
&& string.charAt(i) == string.charAt(i + 1)) {
count++;
i++;
}
if (count > 1) {
stringBuffer.append(count);
}
stringBuffer.append(string.charAt(i));
}
System.out.println("Compressed string: " + stringBuffer);
}

You can accomplish this using a nested for loops and do something simial to:
count = 0;
String results = "";
for(int i=0;i<userString.length();){
char begin = userString.charAt(i);
//System.out.println("begin is: "+begin);
for(int j=i+1; j<userString.length();j++){
char next = userString.charAt(j);
//System.out.println("next is: "+next);
if(begin == next){
count++;
}
else{
System.out.println("Breaking");
break;
}
}
i+= count+1;
if(count>0){
String add = begin + "";
int tempcount = count +1;
results+= tempcount + add;
}
else{
results+= begin;
}
count=0;
}
System.out.println(results);
I tested this output with Hello and the result was He2lo
also tested with hellooopppppp result he2l3o6p

If you don't understand how this works, you should learn regular expressions.
public String rleEncodeString(String in) {
StringBuilder out = new StringBuilder();
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("((\\w)\\2*)");
Matcher m = p.matcher(in);
while(m.find()) {
if(m.group(1).length() > 1) {
out.append(m.group(1).length());
}
out.append(m.group(2));
}
return out.toString();
}

Try something like this:
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Enter a string:");
Scanner IO = new Scanner(System.in);
// read in user input
String userString = IO.nextLine() + "-";
int length = userString.length();
int count = 0;
String result = "";
char new_char;
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
new_char = userString.charAt(i);
count++;
if (new_char != userString.charAt(i + 1)) {
if (count != 1) {
result = result.concat(Integer.toString(count + 1));
}
result = result.concat(Character.toString(new_char));
count = 0;
}
if (userString.charAt(i + 1) == '-')
break;
}
System.out.println(result);
}

The problem is that your code checks if the previous letter, not the next, is the same as the current.
Your for loops basically goes through each letter in the string, and if it is the same as the previous letter, it figures out how many of that letter there is and puts that number into the result string. However, for a word like "hello", it will check 'e' and 'l' (and notice that they are preceded by 'h' and 'e', receptively) and think that there is no repeat. It will then get to the next 'l', and then see that it is the same as the previous letter. It will put '2' in the result, but too late, resulting in "hel2l" instead of "he2lo".
To clean up and fix your code, I recommend the following to replace your for loop:
int count = 1;
String result = "";
for(int i=0;i<length;i++) {
if(i < userString.length()-1 && userString.charAt(i) == userString.charAt(i+1))
count++;
else {
if(count == 1)
result += userString.charAt(i);
else {
result = result + count + userString.charAt(i);
count = 1;
}
}
}
Comment if you need me to explain some of the changes. Some are necessary, others optional.

Here is the solution for the problem with better time complexity:
public static void compressString (String string) {
LinkedHashSet<String> charMap = new LinkedHashSet<String>();
HashMap<String, Integer> countMap = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
int count;
String key;
for (int i = 0; i < string.length(); i++) {
key = new String(string.charAt(i) + "");
charMap.add(key);
if(countMap.containsKey(key)) {
count = countMap.get(key);
countMap.put(key, count + 1);
}
else {
countMap.put(key, 1);
}
}
Iterator<String> iterator = charMap.iterator();
String resultStr = "";
while (iterator.hasNext()) {
key = iterator.next();
count = countMap.get(key);
if(count > 1) {
resultStr = resultStr + count + key;
}
else{
resultStr = resultStr + key;
}
}
System.out.println(resultStr);
}

how to count the exact number of words in a string that has empty spaces between words?

Write a method called wordCount that accepts a String as its parameter and returns the number of words in the String. A word is a sequence of one or more nonspace characters (any character other than ' '). For example, the call wordCount("hello") should return 1, the call wordCount("how are you?") should return 3, the call wordCount(" this string has wide spaces ") should return 5, and the call wordCount(" ") should return 0.
I made a function:
public static int wordCount(String s){
int counter = 0;
for(int i=0; i<=s.length()-1; i++) {
if(Character.isLetter(s.charAt(i))){
counter++;
for(i<=s.length()-1; i++){
if(s.charAt(i)==' '){
counter++;
}
}
}
}
return counter;
}
But i know this has 1 limitation that it will also count the number of spaces after all the words in the string have finished nad it will also count 2 blank spaces as possibly being 2 words :(
Is there a predefined function for word count? or can this code be corrected?

If you want to ignore leading, trailing and duplicate spaces you can use
String trimmed = text.trim();
int words = trimmed.isEmpty() ? 0 : trimmed.split("\\s+").length;

public static int wordCount(String s){
if (s == null)
return 0;
return s.trim().split("\\s+").length;
}
Have fun with the function.

String str="I am a good boy";
String[] words=str.split("\\s+");
System.out.println(words.length);

Simply use s.split(" ").length and for wide spaces...use s.trim().replaceAll("\\s+"," ").split(" ").length

public static int wordCount(String s){
int counter=0;
for(int i=0;i<=s.length()-1;i++){
if(Character.isLetter(s.charAt(i))){
counter++;
for(;i<=s.length()-1;i++){
if(s.charAt(i)==' '){
i++;
break;
}
}
}
}
return counter;
}
This is what you need if don't use the predefined function. I have tested it by myself. Please let me know if there is any bugs!

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/String.html#split(java.lang.String)
Splits this string around matches of the given regular expression.

It should be easy with:
String[] arr = "how are you sir".split("\\s");
System.out.printf("Count [%d]%n", arr.length);

Added some lines to your code:
public static int wordCount(String s){
int counter=0;
for(int i=0;i<=s.length()-1;i++){
if(Character.isLetter(s.charAt(i))){
counter++;
for(;i<=s.length()-1;i++){
if(s.charAt(i)==' '){
counter++;
i++;
while (s.charAt(i)==' ')
i++;
}
}
}
}
return counter;
}

My few solutions:
public static int wordcount1(String word) {
if (word == null || word.trim().length() == 0) {
return 0;
}
int counter = 1;
for (char c : word.trim().toCharArray()) {
if (c == ' ') {
counter++;
}
}
return counter;
}
//
public static int wordcount2(String word) {
if (word != null || word.length() > 0) {
return word.trim().length()
- word.trim().replaceAll("[ ]", "").length() + 1;
} else {
return 0;
}
}
// Recursive
public static int wordcount3(String word) {
if (word == null || word.length() == 0) {
return 0;
}
if (word.charAt(0) == ' ') {
return 1 + wordcount3(word.substring(1));
}
return wordcount3(word.substring(1));
}
//
public static int wordcount4(String word) {
if (word == null || word.length() == 0) {
return 0;
}
String check = word.trim();
int counter = 1;
for (int i = 0; i < check.length(); i++) {
if (i > 0 && Character.isSpaceChar(check.charAt(i))
&& !Character.isSpaceChar(check.charAt(i - 1))) {
counter++;
}
}
return counter;
}