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 Rust (1.15.1) (judge verdict: Accepted)

#![allow(non_snake_case)]
#![allow(dead_code)]
#![allow(unused_macros)]
#![allow(unused_imports)]

use std::str::FromStr;
use std::io::*;
use std::collections::*;
use std::cmp::*;

struct Scanner<I: Iterator<Item = char>> {
    iter: std::iter::Peekable<I>,
}

macro_rules! exit {
    () => {{
        exit!(0)
    }};
    ($code:expr) => {{
        if cfg!(local) {
            writeln!(std::io::stderr(), "===== Terminated =====")
                .expect("failed printing to stderr");
        }
        std::process::exit($code);
    }}
}

impl<I: Iterator<Item = char>> Scanner<I> {
    pub fn new(iter: I) -> Scanner<I> {
        Scanner {
            iter: iter.peekable(),
        }
    }

    pub fn safe_get_token(&mut self) -> Option<String> {
        let token = self.iter
            .by_ref()
            .skip_while(|c| c.is_whitespace())
            .take_while(|c| !c.is_whitespace())
            .collect::<String>();
        if token.is_empty() {
            None
        } else {
            Some(token)
        }
    }

    pub fn token(&mut self) -> String {
        self.safe_get_token().unwrap_or_else(|| exit!())
    }

    pub fn get<T: FromStr>(&mut self) -> T {
        self.token().parse::<T>().unwrap_or_else(|_| exit!())
    }

    pub fn vec<T: FromStr>(&mut self, len: usize) -> Vec<T> {
        (0..len).map(|_| self.get()).collect()
    }

    pub fn mat<T: FromStr>(&mut self, row: usize, col: usize) -> Vec<Vec<T>> {
        (0..row).map(|_| self.vec(col)).collect()
    }

    pub fn char(&mut self) -> char {
        self.iter.next().unwrap_or_else(|| exit!())
    }

    pub fn chars(&mut self) -> Vec<char> {
        self.get::<String>().chars().collect()
    }

    pub fn mat_chars(&mut self, row: usize) -> Vec<Vec<char>> {
        (0..row).map(|_| self.chars()).collect()
    }

    pub fn line(&mut self) -> String {
        if self.peek().is_some() {
            self.iter
                .by_ref()
                .take_while(|&c| !(c == '\n' || c == '\r'))
                .collect::<String>()
        } else {
            exit!();
        }
    }

    pub fn peek(&mut self) -> Option<&char> {
        self.iter.peek()
    }
}

const INF: usize = 1 << 60;

fn main() {
    let cin = stdin();
    let cin = cin.lock();
    let mut sc = Scanner::new(cin.bytes().map(|c| c.unwrap() as char));
    let s: Vec<char> = sc.chars();
    let N = s.len();
    let mut ans = INF;
    for maxc in (b'a'..b'z'+1).map(|c| char::from(c)) {
        if s.iter().all(|&i| i == maxc) {
            println!("0");
            return;
        }
        let mut pt = s.clone();
        for c in 1..N {
            let mut t = vec!['0'; N-c];
            for i in 0..pt.len()-1 {
                if pt[i] == maxc || pt[i+1] == maxc {
                    t[i] = maxc;
                } else {
                    t[i] = pt[i];
                }
            }
            if t.iter().all(|&i| i == maxc) {
                ans = min(ans, c);
                break;
            }
            pt = t;
        }
    }
    println!("{}", ans);
}