// 3223. Minimum Length of String After Operations #include "leetcode.h" /* * you are given a string 's'. you can perform the following process on 's' any * number of times: choose an index 'i' in the string such that there is at * least one character to the left of index 'i' that is equal to 's[i]' and at * least one character to the right that is also equal to 's[i]', delete the * closest character to the left of index 'i' that is equal to 's[i]', delete * the closest character to the right of index 'i' that is equal to 's[i]'. * return the minimum length of the final string 's' that you can achieve */ int minimumLength(char *s) { int *lower_cnt = (int *)calloc(26, sizeof(int)), ans = 0; for (int i = 0; s[i] != '\0'; i++) { assert(s[i] >= 'a' && s[i] <= 'z'); lower_cnt[s[i] - 'a']++; } for (int i = 0; i < 26; i++) ans += lower_cnt[i] <= 2 ? lower_cnt[i] : (lower_cnt[i] % 2 ? 1 : 2); free(lower_cnt); return ans; } int main() { char *s1 = "abaacbcbb", *s2 = "aa"; printf("%d\n", minimumLength(s1)); // expect: 5 printf("%d\n", minimumLength(s2)); // expect: 2 }