Problem:
Score : 300 points

Problem Statement

Snuke can change a string t of length N into a string t' of length N - 1 under the following rule:

For each i (1 ≤ i ≤ N - 1), the i-th character of t' must be either the i-th or (i + 1)-th character of t.

There is a string s consisting of lowercase English letters.
Snuke's objective is to apply the above operation to s repeatedly so that all the characters in s are the same.
Find the minimum necessary number of operations.

Constraints

1 ≤ |s| ≤ 100

s consists of lowercase English letters.

Input

Input is given from Standard Input in the following format:

s

Output

Print the minimum necessary number of operations to achieve the objective.

Sample Input 1

serval

Sample Output 1

3

One solution is: serval → srvvl → svvv → vvv.

Sample Input 2

jackal

Sample Output 2

2

One solution is: jackal → aacaa → aaaa.

Sample Input 3

zzz

Sample Output 3

0

All the characters in s are the same from the beginning.

Sample Input 4

whbrjpjyhsrywlqjxdbrbaomnw

Sample Output 4

8

In 8 operations, he can change s to rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Solution in Java8 (OpenJDK 1.8.0) (judge verdict: Accepted)


import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.NoSuchElementException;


public class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    FastScanner sc = new FastScanner();
    char[] s = sc.next().toCharArray();
    int n = s.length;
    char[][] array = new char[2][n];

    int min = Integer.MAX_VALUE;

    for (int i = 0; i < 26; i ++) {
      char c = (char)('a' + i);
      array[0] = Arrays.copyOf(s, n);

      boolean same = true;
      for (int k = 0; k < n; k ++) {
        if (array[0][k] != c) {
          same = false;
          break;
        }
      }
      if (same) {
        min = 0;
        break;
      }
      for (int k = 0; k < n; k ++) {
        boolean flg = false;
        for (int j = 0; j < n - k - 1; j ++) {
          int from = k % 2;
          int to = (from + 1) % 2;
  
          if (array[from][j] == c || array[from][j + 1] == c) {
            array[to][j] = c;
          } else {
            array[to][j] = '#';
            flg = true;
          }
        }
        
        if (!flg) {
          min = Math.min(min, k + 1);
          break;
        }
      }
    }

    System.out.println(min);
  }
}


class FastScanner {
  public static String debug = null;

  private final InputStream in = System.in;
  private int ptr = 0;
  private int buflen = 0;
  private byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
  private boolean eos = false;

  private boolean hasNextByte() {
    if (ptr < buflen) {
      return true;
    } else {
      ptr = 0;
      try {
        if (debug != null) {
          buflen = debug.length();
          buffer = debug.getBytes();
          debug = "";
          eos = true;
        } else {
          buflen = in.read(buffer);
        }
      } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
      }
      if (buflen < 0) {
        eos = true;
        return false;
      } else if (buflen == 0) {
        return false;
      }
    }
    return true;
  }

  private int readByte() {
    if (hasNextByte())
      return buffer[ptr++];
    else
      return -1;
  }

  private static boolean isPrintableChar(int c) {
    return 33 <= c && c <= 126;
  }

  private void skipUnprintable() {
    while (hasNextByte() && !isPrintableChar(buffer[ptr]))
      ptr++;
  }

  public boolean isEOS() {
    return this.eos;
  }

  public boolean hasNext() {
    skipUnprintable();
    return hasNextByte();
  }

  public String next() {
    if (!hasNext())
      throw new NoSuchElementException();
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    int b = readByte();
    while (isPrintableChar(b)) {
      sb.appendCodePoint(b);
      b = readByte();
    }
    return sb.toString();
  }

  public long nextLong() {
    if (!hasNext())
      throw new NoSuchElementException();
    long n = 0;
    boolean minus = false;
    int b = readByte();
    if (b == '-') {
      minus = true;
      b = readByte();
    }
    if (b < '0' || '9' < b) {
      throw new NumberFormatException();
    }
    while (true) {
      if ('0' <= b && b <= '9') {
        n *= 10;
        n += b - '0';
      } else if (b == -1 || !isPrintableChar(b)) {
        return minus ? -n : n;
      } else {
        throw new NumberFormatException();
      }
      b = readByte();
    }
  }

  public int nextInt() {
    return (int) nextLong();
  }

  public long[] nextLongList(int n) {
    return nextLongTable(1, n)[0];
  }

  public int[] nextIntList(int n) {
    return nextIntTable(1, n)[0];
  }

  public long[][] nextLongTable(int n, int m) {
    long[][] ret = new long[n][m];
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
      for (int j = 0; j < m; j++) {
        ret[i][j] = nextLong();
      }
    }
    return ret;
  }

  public int[][] nextIntTable(int n, int m) {
    int[][] ret = new int[n][m];
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
      for (int j = 0; j < m; j++) {
        ret[i][j] = nextInt();
      }
    }
    return ret;
  }
}