> You must make sure your result is the smallest in lexicographical order among all possible results.
Can someone explain this? I can't even parse that sentence.
Can someone explain this? I can't even parse that sentence.
CACB
You can get either CAB or ACB. If you were to order all of the possible results of removing duplicates (in this case only two, but obviously many more for more complex strings) and order them alphabetically, then take the lowest one, that would be the right answer.
In the second example with input cbacdcbc a possible solution would be cbad but acdb is "smaller" (ordered before).
As an engineer, before starting to code, I'd first ask if the customer would prefer "abcd" or "cbad" for the second example, as either would be far cheaper in terms of development and maintenance costs to do. It's somewhat common to discover that they're just taking the "acdb" you're giving them because that's exactly what they asked for, and then they're alphabetizing it to "abcd" afterward on their end, anyway. But sometimes, there is a legit reason for the weirdness, and the customer is willing to pay for the extra effort.
Whenever someone seems intent on aiming at foot and pulling trigger, always ask "Are you sure?" and "Why do you want that?" at least once before helping them do what they want.
The "read hypothetical; code answer" type of test doesn't quite capture that like the interactive interview discussion does.