From: Phrogz <phrogz@...>
Date: 2007-12-08T06:45:21+09:00
Subject: Re: Word Loop (#149)

On Dec 7, 2:27 pm, Phrogz <phr...@mac.com> wrote:
> On Dec 7, 1:45 pm, Ruby Quiz <ja...@grayproductions.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Given a single word as input try to find a repeated letter inside of it such
> > that you can loop the text around and reuse that letter.  For example:
>
> >         $ ruby word_loop.rb Mississippi
> >          i
> >          p
> >          p
> >         Mis
> >          ss
> >          si
>
> > or:
>
> >         $ ruby word_loop.rb Markham
> >         Ma
> >         ar
> >         hk
>
> > or:
>
> >         $ ruby word_loop.rb yummy
> >         yu
> >         mm
>
> Maybe it's because it's a Friday afternoon, but I don't understand the
> quiz problem. Could someone who understands this try explaining it
> (without, of course, discussing any code or even pseudo-code to
> approach it).
>
> I've looked over those examples a few times and I'm totally baffled.
> What does "loop the text around and reuse that letter" mean?

Ah, got it.

[y] -> [u]
 ^      |
 |      v
[m] <- [m]


[M] -> [a]
 ^      |
 |      v
[a]    [r]
 ^      |
 |      v
[h] <- [k]




       [i]
        ^
        |
       [p]
        ^
        |
       [p]
        ^
        |
[M] -> [i] -> [s]
        ^      |
        |      v
       [s]    [s]
        ^      |
        |      v
       [s] <- [i]