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Count the Characters in a String Recursively & treat "eu" as a Single Character

I am new to Java, and I'm trying to figure out how to count Characters in the given string and threat a combination of two characters "eu" as a single character, and still count all other characters as one character.
And I want to do that using recursion.
Consider the following example.
Input:
"geugeu"
Desired output:
4 // g + eu + g + eu = 4
Current output:
2
I've been trying a lot and still can't seem to figure out how to implement it correctly.
My code:
public static int recursionCount(String str) {
if (str.length() == 1) {
return 0;
}
else {
String ch = str.substring(0, 2);
if (ch.equals("eu") {
return 1 + recursionCount(str.substring(1));
}
else {
return recursionCount(str.substring(1));
}
}
}

OP wants to count all characters in a string but adjacent characters "ae", "oe", "ue", and "eu" should be considered a single character and counted only once.
Below code does that:
public static int recursionCount(String str) {
int n;
n = str.length();
if(n <= 1) {
return n; // return 1 if one character left or 0 if empty string.
}
else {
String ch = str.substring(0, 2);
if(ch.equals("ae") || ch.equals("oe") || ch.equals("ue") || ch.equals("eu")) {
// consider as one character and skip next character
return 1 + recursionCount(str.substring(2));
}
else {
// don't skip next character
return 1 + recursionCount(str.substring(1));
}
}
}

Recursion explained
In order to address a particular task using Recursion, you need a firm understanding of how recursion works.
And the first thing you need to keep in mind is that every recursive solution should (either explicitly or implicitly) contain two parts: Base case and Recursive case.
Let's have a look at them closely:
Base case - a part that represents a simple edge-case (or a set of edge-cases), i.e. a situation in which recursion should terminate. The outcome for these edge-cases is known in advance. For this task, base case is when the given string is empty, and since there's nothing to count the return value should be 0. That is sufficient for the algorithm to work, outcomes for other inputs should be derived from the recursive case.
Recursive case - is the part of the method where recursive calls are made and where the main logic resides. Every recursive call eventually hits the base case and stars building its return value.
In the recursive case, we need to check whether the given string starts from a particular string like "eu". And for that we don't need to generate a substring (keep in mind that object creation is costful). instead we can use method String.startsWith() which checks if the bytes of the provided prefix string match the bytes at the beginning of this string which is chipper (reminder: starting from Java 9 String is backed by an array of bytes, and each character is represented either with one or two bytes depending on the character encoding) and we also don't bother about the length of the string because if the string is shorter than the prefix startsWith() will return false.
Implementation
That said, here's how an implementation might look:
public static int recursionCount(String str) {
if(str.isEmpty()) {
return 0;
}
return str.startsWith("eu") ?
1 + recursionCount(str.substring(2)) : 1 + recursionCount(str.substring(1));
}
Note: that besides from being able to implement a solution, you also need to evaluate it's Time and Space complexity.
In this case because we are creating a new string with every call time complexity is quadratic O(n^2) (reminder: creation of the new string requires allocating the memory to coping bytes of the original string). And worse case space complexity also would be O(n^2).
There's a way of solving this problem recursively in a linear time O(n) without generating a new string at every call. For that we need to introduce the second argument - current index, and each recursive call should advance this index either by 1 or by 2 (I'm not going to implement this solution and living it for OP/reader as an exercise).
In addition
In addition, here's a concise and simple non-recursive solution using String.replace():
public static int count(String str) {
return str.replace("eu", "_").length();
}
If you would need handle multiple combination of character (which were listed in the first version of the question) you can make use of the regular expressions with String.replaceAll():
public static int count(String str) {
return str.replaceAll("ue|au|oe|eu", "_").length();
}

Why use bit shifting instead of a for loop?

I created the following code to find parity of a binary number (i.e output 1 if the number of 1's in the binary word is odd, output 0 if the number of 1's is even).
public class CalculateParity {
String binaryword;
int totalones = 0;
public CalculateParity(String binaryword) {
this.binaryword = binaryword;
getTotal();
}
public int getTotal() {
for(int i=0; i<binaryword.length(); i++) {
if (binaryword.charAt(i) == '1'){
totalones += 1;
}
}
return totalones;
}
public int calcParity() {
if (totalones % 2 == 1) {
return 1;
}
else {
return 0;
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
CalculateParity bin = new CalculateParity("1011101");
System.out.println(bin.calcParity());
}
}
However, all of the solutions I find online almost always deal with using bit shift operators, XORs, unsigned shift operations, etc., like this solution I found in a data structure book:
public static short parity(long x){
short result = 0;
while (x != 0) {
result A=(x&1);
x >>>= 1;
}
return result;
}
Why is this the case? What makes bitwise operators more of a valid/standard solution than the solution I came up with, which is simply iterating through a binary word of type String? Is a bitwise solution more efficient? I appreciate any help!

The code that you have quoted uses a loop as well (i.e., while):
public static short parity(long x){
short result = 9;
while (x != 9) {
result A=(x&1);
x >>>= 1;
}
return result;
}
You need to acknowledge that you are using a string that you know beforehand will be composed of only digits, and conveniently in a binary representation. Naturally, given those constraints, one does not need to use bitwise operations instead one just parsers char-by-char and does the desired computations.
On the other hand, if you receive as a parameter a long, as the method that you have quoted, then it comes in handy to use bitwise operations to go through each bit (at a time) in a number and perform the desired computation.
One could also convert the long into a string and apply the same logic code-wise that you have applied, but first, one would have to convert that long into binary. However, that approach would add extra unnecessary steps, more code, and would be performance-wise worse. Probably, the same applies vice-versa if you have a String with your constraints. Nevertheless, a String is not a number, even if it is only composed of digits, which makes using a type that represents a number (e.g., long) even a more desirable approach.
Another thing that you are missing is that you did some of the heavy lifting by converting already a number to binary, and encoded into a String new CalculateParity("1011101");. So you kind of jump a step there. Now try to use your approach, but this time using "93" and find the parity.

If you want know if a String is even. I think this method below is better.
If you convert a String too
long which the length of the String is bigger than 64. there will a error occur.
both of the method you
mention is O(n) performance.It will not perform big different. but
the shift method is more precise and the clock of the cpu use will a little bit less.
private static boolean isEven(String s){
char[] chars = s.toCharArray();
int i = 0;
for(char c : chars){
i ^= c;
}
return i == 0;
}

You use a string based method for a string input. Good choice.
The code you quote uses an integer-based method for an integer input. An equally good choice.

Get random operators and integers

im doing an assignment which requires me to create 3 classes.
1 with getting 2 random integers,
1 with getting random operators such as + - * / which should be done so in char method
the last one to check if the simple mathematics answer is correct using booleans via user Scanner input.
i need a little help here as im not sure if i've done the random operators method correctly and am really lost at how i should tabulate both random int and operators together in one class.
here's the code i've done so far:
public static char getOperator (int x, int y)
{
char operator;
int answer;
switch (rand.nextInt(4))
{
case 0: operator = '+';
answer = x + y;
break;
case 1: operator = '-';
answer = x - y;;
break;
case 2: operator = '*';
answer = x * y;;
break;
case 3: operator = '/';
answer = x / y;;
break;
default: operator = '?';
}
return operator;
}

I believe you mean you need to create 3 methods (and not classes).
One that creates a random integer (it's a bad design to create a
method that returns two integers instead of just calling two times
one that returns one int).
One that returns a random operator
One that checks if an operation consisting of "random-number
random-operator random-number" is equal to user input
Anyways, there's a lot to unpack here, so:
Your first method getTwoIntegers is incorrect, you're asking for two integers in input but you never actually use them, then you return one random number.
The method getOperator needs to be redesigned to have no input and return one char (equal to + - x /).
Your final method will call the your first method twice, then the second method once, it will then print the operation for the user to see, and check if the response is correct.
Hopefully this can help you conceptualize better the way you should build your code.
I didn't post the source code since I believe it's much better for you if you try to do it by yourself (this being an assignment and all)
Good luck and have fun :)

Recursive manual way to convert int to string (without anything like an array, a list, or parsing stuff) for positive and negative numbers [closed]

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hello i worked on a recursive method to convert from int to string fully manual way, and i wanna know if that recursive method is efficient or not, and if you could help me to improve the code. Im new to algorithms so don't blame me if something looks like ugly... I've search on the internet but never looked for something like that :
public class IntToString {
public static String intToString(int number) {
return intToString(number, "", false);
}
private static String intToString(int number, String answer,
boolean isNegative) {
if (number < 0 && isNegative == false) {
isNegative = true;
number = -number;
}
if (number == 0)
if (isNegative)
return "-" + answer;
else
return answer;
System.out.println(number);
return intToString(number / 10, answer = number % 10 + answer,
isNegative);
}
// test
public static void main(String[] args) {
String ans = intToString(-324234);
System.out.println(ans);
}
}

No, it's not very efficient. Though it could be worse. At least it's still O(N) where N is the number of decimal digits in the given number.
invertInt is not really needed. You are using it because you are appending it to the answer that you pass down the the recursions, which will cause that number to be inverted. But there are at least two other ways to do it so that it won't be inverted.
If you note, there is only a very slight difference between the the way you handle negative numbers and positive numbers. Perhaps you can just run the same procedure for both of them, if you remember that processing a negative number is the same as processing its positive opposite, and tacking the - when you're done.
There is no reason for all the flags for negative and inversion. Both of them are only done at the top level. So you can do those things at the intToString(int number) function and not in your recursive function, and save yourself a lot of condition checking, and of course, the replaceAll() call.
There is no need to pass down the answer. You can base your return value on what the recursive call returned. Remember that for numbers like 1,2,3, you'll get the string '1','2','3'. So if you have 23, and you pass down 2, you can use the 2 you got to build your answer.
Your algorithm does not return the correct answer for 0. It's the correct answer when you think in recursive terms, but not when you call it with 0 from main. There are at least two ways to handle that.
And a bit of style advice:
Always indent your code properly.
You don't need to compare boolean values to true or false. If you have a boolean variable x, you can use if (x) or if (!x) rather than if (x==true) and if (x==false). Name your boolean variables in a way that will make this more intuitive, like isNegative or needsInversion. An if (isNegative) makes sense when you read it.
More detailed information in case you could not find the solution:
How do we avoid the inversion? There are two ways, basically. If you insist on passing down the answer, then instead of:
answer += num % 10;
Use:
answer = ( num % 10 ) + answer;
That is - append it to the left of the answer, not its right.
The approach I prefer is using the answer from the lower level. Suppose you have the number 123. So you pass down 12, and you get back the answer "12". Then you can use
return answer + ( num % 10 );
which will give you "123". This time, it's appended to the right.
Finally, here is the complete solution:
public static String intToString( int n ) {
if ( n == 0 ) {
return "0";
} else if ( n < 0 ) {
return "-" + positiveIntToString( -n );
} else {
return positiveIntToString(n);
}
}
private static String positiveIntToString( int n ) {
if ( n == 0 ) {
return "";
} else {
return positiveIntToString( n / 10 ) + ( n % 10 );
}
}
You have the public function that is what you expose to the world. The recursive function is private, and it is only called for positive numbers. If called with zero, it will return an empty string, which is good for the recursion, but not as a real solution.
So the public function first checks two possible issues. If the number is zero, it shouldn't be passed to the private function because it will not return the correct answer. Instead, just return the string "0", as it is the correct answer.
For a negative number, all we need to do is do the work for its counterpart, -n, which is positive and so will be acceptable to the private function. And then we add the "-" in front.
The recursive function for positive integers then becomes very simple: if it's zero, return empty string. For anything else, call itself with n/10, tack the n%10 to the right side of the result, and return that.
Here is also an alternative solution, without a private method:
public static String intToString( int n ) {
if ( n == 0 ) {
return "0";
} else if ( n < 0 ) {
return "-" + intToString( -n );
} else if ( n < 10 ) {
return "" + (n%10);
} else {
return intToString(n/10) + (n%10);
}
}
I actually consider this to be a slightly less efficient solution, because we do two more checks on each level. The check for negative will only be true once, at the top level. The check for zero will only be true if the function is called with zero in the first place. The check for single digit numbers is the current recursion end (because we can't stop the recursion at zero, otherwise we'll always get an extra "0" at the beginning).

Implementing recursion in Java

Just to be clear, this is not a homework assignment, I study CS in my own time!
I recently purchased a book entitled '50 puzzles for logical thinking' by Charles Phillips. I started one of them and it occurred to me that I could solve the problem using recursion. Here's the (paraphrased) question:
Insert a mathematical operator (+, -, ÷, x) in each of the spaces to solve the equation:
6 _ 3 _ 5 _ 7 _ 4 _ 8 = 13
It is my understanding, that in order to solve this problem using recursion, I first need to identify a base case. However, I'm having trouble doing this.
So my question is, what is a possible base case and how should I begin to implement it? What could the recursive function look like (arguments, return type etc)? (code is helpful please)!
This is what I have so far: Nearly working I think
See my answer for an implementation
N.b. I'm using Java

I think the stopping condition should mean that the equation is satisfied: all the operators filled in, and the operations resulting in a proper equality.
I would express the equation as a parse tree, with the leaves as numbers and the parents as operators. A tree naturally lends itself to recursion, because it's a hierarchical data structure.
Make an operator assumption where the root operation is the minus sign, the right child is the desired value (13), and the left child is the left hand side. Add an operator, evaluate the tree, and backtrack until your stopping condition is met.

The base case is when all the blanks are filled in with operators. You can solve this problem using depth-first backtracking search:
algorithm dfs(i):
if i == num_blanks: # base case: filled in all the blanks
if equation_solved():
return the operators you filled in
else:
for op in (+, -, ÷, ×):
blank[i] = op
if dfs(i + 1) returns a solution:
return that solution
blank[i] = _ # restore to previous state
This is a recursive way of searching through the entire combinatorial space. (I hope this doesn't spoil the exercise for you; I wrote it in pseudocode to leave the implementation to you.)

You can think of it as a tree of decisions.
6
/ / \ \
+ - * /
3 Assuming you choose + for the first operator
/ / \ \
+ - * /
5 5 5 5
^ ^
6 + 3 - 5 6 + 3 / 5
You can then use a graph traversal algorithm such as DFS or BFS to check the result. Both are naturally recursive.

Here is the implementation I ended up with, but first an explanation of the solution to the problem:
The base case (as said by larsmans and Jan Dvorak) is when all the "_" are filled with operators (such as "+").
The function calls itself, adding another parameter each time until it reaches a base case that is incorrect (e.g. "6+3+5+7+4-8=13") or it has a correct answer.
If the base case is incorrect, then we keep popping up levels we get to a level with an operator we can change.
Here's the code:
class GapFill {
private static String numbers; //E.g. 6_5_4=15
private static String[] blank; //Array of operators to go in the blanks
//Where:
//p = plus
//m = minus
//d = divide
//t = times
private static String[] operators = {"p", "m", "d,", "t"};
public static void main(String[] args) {
numbers = args[0];
blank = new String[numbers.split("_").length - 1];
if(dfs(0)) { //If a solution was found
int count = 0;
while(numbers.indexOf("_")!=-1) {
int index = numbers.indexOf("_");
numbers = numbers.substring(0,index)+blank[count]+numbers.substring(index+1);
count++;
}
System.out.println(numbers);
}
}
private static boolean dfs(int i) {
if(i == blank.length) { //base case: filled in all the blanks
return solveEquation();
}
for(String op : operators) {
blank[i] = op;
if(dfs(i + 1)) {
return true;
}
}
blank[i] = "_"; //restore to previous state
return false;
}
private static boolean solveEquation() {
String[] eachNumber = numbers.substring(0, numbers.indexOf("=")).split("_");
String finalResult = numbers.substring(numbers.indexOf("=")+1, numbers.length());
double currentResult = Double.parseDouble(eachNumber[0]);
for(int i=1;i<eachNumber.length;i++) {
String op = blank[i-1];
if(op==operators[0]) {
currentResult = currentResult + Integer.parseInt(eachNumber[i]);
} else if(op==operators[1]) {
currentResult = currentResult - Integer.parseInt(eachNumber[i]);
} else if(op==operators[2]) {
currentResult = currentResult / Integer.parseInt(eachNumber[i]);
} else if(op==operators[3]) {
currentResult = currentResult * Integer.parseInt(eachNumber[i]);
}
}
return (currentResult==Integer.parseInt(finalResult));
}
}
The output for java GapFill 6_3_5_7_4_8=13 is 6m3p5m7p4p8=13.
The "p,m,d,t" symbols are used instead of "+,-,÷,×" since the terminal doesn't like × or ÷