#include <algorithm>
#include <array>
#include <bitset>
#include <complex>
#include <functional>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <numeric>
#include <set>
#include <stack>
#include <unordered_map>
#include <unordered_set>
#include <queue>

using namespace std;

struct BoolName : numpunct<char> {
  string t, f;
  BoolName (string t = "Yes", string f = "No") : t(t), f(f) {}
  string do_truename() const {return t;}
  string do_falsename() const {return f;}
};

struct Initializer {
  Initializer() {
    cin.tie(0);
    ios::sync_with_stdio(0);
    cout << fixed << setprecision(15) << boolalpha;
    cout.imbue(locale(cout.getloc(), new BoolName));
  }
} initializer;

template<typename T> istream& operator>>(istream &s, vector<T> &v) {
  for (T &t : v) s >> t;
  return s;
}

template<typename T> ostream& operator<<(ostream &s, const vector<T> &v) {
  for (const T &t : v) s << t << endl;
  return s;
}

void set_bool_name(string t, string f) {
  cout.imbue(locale(cout.getloc(), new BoolName(t, f)));
}

template<typename T> bool chmin(T& a, T b) {return a > b ? a = b, true : false;}

template<typename T> bool chmax(T& a, T b) {return a < b ? a = b, true : false;}

template<typename T> T min(const vector<T>& v) {return *min_element(v.begin(), v.end());}

template<typename T> T max(const vector<T>& v) {return *max_element(v.begin(), v.end());}

template<typename T> int min_element(vector<T>& v) {return min_element(v.begin(), v.end()) - v.begin();}

template<typename T> int max_element(vector<T>& v) {return max_element(v.begin(), v.end()) - v.begin();}

template<typename T> void sort(vector<T>& v) {sort(v.begin(), v.end());}

template<typename T, typename Function> void sort(vector<T>& v, Function func) {sort(v.begin(), v.end(), func);}

template<typename T> void rsort(vector<T>& v) {sort(v.rbegin(), v.rend());}

template<typename T> void reverse(vector<T>& v) {reverse(v.begin(), v.end());}

template<typename T> void unique(vector<T>& v) {v.erase(unique(v.begin(), v.end()), v.end());}

template<typename T> void nth_element(vector<T>& v, int n) {nth_element(v.begin(), v.begin() + n, v.end());}

template<typename T> bool next_permutation(vector<T>& v) {return next_permutation(v.begin(), v.end());}

template<typename T> int find(vector<T>& v, T t) {return find(v.begin(), v.end(), t) - v.begin();}

template<typename T> int in(vector<T> v, T t) {return find(v, t) != int(v.size());}

template<typename T> int lower_bound(vector<T>& v, T t) {return lower_bound(v.begin(), v.end(), t) - v.begin();}

template<typename T> int upper_bound(vector<T>& v, T t) {return upper_bound(v.begin(), v.end(), t) - v.begin();}

template<typename T> T accumulate(const vector<T>& v, function<T(T, T)> func = plus<T>()) {return accumulate(v.begin(), v.end(), T(), func);}

template<typename T> void adjacent_difference(vector<T>& v) {adjacent_difference(v.begin(), v.end(), v.begin());}

template<typename T> void adjacent_difference(vector<T>& v, vector<T>& u) {adjacent_difference(v.begin(), v.end(), u.begin());}

template<typename T> vector<T> partial_sum(const vector<T>& v) {
  vector<T> u(v.size());
  partial_sum(v.begin(), v.end(), u.begin());
  return u;
}

template<typename T> T inner_product(vector<T>& v, vector<T>& u) {return inner_product(v.begin(), v.end(), u.begin(), T(0));}

template<typename T> int count(const vector<T>& v, T t) {return count(v.begin(), v.end(), t);}

template<typename T, typename Function> int count_if(const vector<T>& v, Function func) {return count_if(v.begin(), v.end(), func);}

template<typename T, typename Function> void remove_if(vector<T>& v, Function func) {v.erase(remove_if(v.begin(), v.end(), func), v.end());}

template<typename T, typename Function> bool all_of(vector<T> v, Function func) {return all_of(v.begin(), v.end(), func);}

template<typename T, typename Function> bool any_of(vector<T> v, Function func) {return any_of(v.begin(), v.end(), func);}

template<typename T, typename Function> bool none_of(vector<T> v, Function func) {return none_of(v.begin(), v.end(), func);}

template<typename T> vector<T> subvector(vector<T>& v, int a, int b) {return vector<T>(v.begin() + a, v.begin() + b);}

template<typename T> int kinds(const T& v) {return set<typename T::value_type>(v.begin(), v.end()).size();}

template<typename T> map<T, int> count_kinds(const vector<T>& v) {
  map<T, int> res;
  for (const auto& i : v) ++res[i];
  return res;
}

template<typename T> void iota(vector<T>& v, T t = 0) {iota(v.begin(), v.end(), t);}

template<typename T> bool is_sorted(const vector<T>& v) {return is_sorted(v.begin(), v.end());}

int main() {
  string s;
  cin >> s;
  int res = numeric_limits<int>::max();
  for (char c = 'a'; c <= 'z'; ++c) {
    string t = s;
    while (true) {
      if (kinds(t) == 1) {
        chmin(res, int(s.size() - t.size()));
        break;
      }
      string u;
      for (int i = 0; i < int(t.size() - 1); ++i) {
        if (t[i] == c || t[i + 1] == c) u += c;
        else u += s[i];
      }
      t = u;
    }
  }
  cout << res << endl;
}



Measured memory_bytes: 256