Print shortest path to print a string on screen - GeeksforGeeks

16 Jun, 2021
Given a screen containing alphabets from A-Z, we can go from one character to another characters using a remote. The remote contains left, right, top and bottom keys.Find shortest possible path to type all characters of given string using the remote. Initial position is top left and all characters of input string should be printed in order.Screen:  
A B C D E
F G H I J
K L M N O
P Q R S T
U V W X Y
Z
Example:  
Input: “GEEK”
Output: 
Move Down
Move Right
Press OK
Move Up
Move Right
Move Right
Move Right
Press OK
Press OK
Move Left
Move Left
Move Left
Move Left
Move Down
Move Down
Press OK
 
The idea is to consider screen as 2D-matrix of characters. Then we consider all characters of given string one by one and print out the shortest path between current character and next character in the matrix. In order to find shortest path, we consider the coordinates of current character and next character in the matrix. Based on the difference between x and y values of current and next character’s coordinates, we move left, right, top or bottom. i.e.  
If row difference is negative, we move up
If row difference is positive, we move down
If column difference is negative, we go left
If column difference is positive, we go right
Below is implementation of above idea 
C++
Java
Python3
C#
PHP
Javascript
// C++ program to print shortest possible path to// type all characters of given string using a remote#include <iostream>using namespace std; // Function to print shortest possible path to// type all characters of given string using a remotevoid printPath(string str){    int i = 0;    // start from character 'A' present at position (0, 0)    int curX = 0, curY = 0;    while (i < str.length())    {        // find coordinates of next character        int nextX = (str[i] - 'A') / 5;        int nextY = (str[i] - 'B' + 1) % 5;         // Move Up if destination is above        while (curX > nextX)        {            cout << "Move Up" << endl;            curX--;        }         // Move Left if destination is to the left        while (curY > nextY)        {            cout << "Move Left" << endl;            curY--;        }         // Move down if destination is below        while (curX < nextX)        {            cout << "Move Down" << endl;            curX++;        }         // Move Right if destination is to the right        while (curY < nextY)        {            cout << "Move Right" << endl;            curY++;        }         // At this point, destination is reached        cout << "Press OK" << endl;        i++;    }} // Driver codeint main(){    string str = "COZY";     printPath(str);     return 0;}
// Java program to print shortest possible path to// type all characters of given string using a remote class GFG{    // Function to print shortest possible path to    // type all characters of given string using a remote    static void printPath(String str)    {        int i = 0;        // start from character 'A' present at position (0, 0)        int curX = 0, curY = 0;        while (i < str.length())        {            // find coordinates of next character            int nextX = (str.charAt(i) - 'A') / 5;            int nextY = (str.charAt(i) - 'B' + 1) % 5;              // Move Up if destination is above            while (curX > nextX)            {                System.out.println("Move Up");                curX--;            }              // Move Left if destination is to the left            while (curY > nextY)            {                System.out.println("Move Left");                curY--;            }              // Move down if destination is below            while (curX < nextX)            {                System.out.println("Move Down");                curX++;            }              // Move Right if destination is to the right            while (curY < nextY)            {                System.out.println("Move Right");                curY++;            }              // At this point, destination is reached            System.out.println("Press OK");            i++;        }    }         // driver program    public static void main (String[] args)    {        String str = "COZY";        printPath(str);    }} // Contributed by Pramod Kumar
# Python 3 program to print shortest possible# path to type all characters of given string# using a remote # Function to print shortest possible path# to type all characters of given string# using a remotedef printPath(str):    i = 0         # start from character 'A' present    # at position (0, 0)    curX = 0    curY = 0    while (i < len(str)):                 # find coordinates of next character        nextX = int((ord(str[i]) - ord('A')) / 5)        nextY = (ord(str[i]) - ord('B') + 1) % 5         # Move Up if destination is above        while (curX > nextX):            print("Move Up")            curX -= 1         # Move Left if destination is to the left        while (curY > nextY):            print("Move Left")            curY -= 1         # Move down if destination is below        while (curX < nextX):            print("Move Down")            curX += 1         # Move Right if destination is to the right        while (curY < nextY):            print("Move Right")            curY += 1         # At this point, destination is reached        print("Press OK")        i += 1 # Driver codeif __name__ == '__main__':    str = "COZY"     printPath(str) # This code is contributed by# Sanjit_Prasad
// C# program to print shortest// possible path to type all// characters of given string// using a remoteusing System; class GFG {         // Function to print shortest    // possible path to type all    // characters of given string    // using a remote    static void printPath(String str)    {        int i = 0;                 // start from character 'A'        // present at position (0, 0)        int curX = 0, curY = 0;        while (i < str.Length)        {                         // find coordinates of            // next character            int nextX = (str[i] - 'A') / 5;            int nextY = (str[i] - 'B' + 1) % 5;             // Move Up if destination            // is above            while (curX > nextX)            {                Console.WriteLine("Move Up");                curX--;            }             // Move Left if destination            // is to the left            while (curY > nextY)            {                Console.WriteLine("Move Left");                curY--;            }             // Move down if destination            // is below            while (curX < nextX)            {                Console.WriteLine("Move Down");                curX++;            }             // Move Right if destination            // is to the right            while (curY < nextY)            {                Console.WriteLine("Move Right");                curY++;            }             // At this point, destination            // is reached            Console.WriteLine("Press OK");            i++;        }    }         // Driver Code    public static void Main ()    {        String str = "COZY";        printPath(str);    }} // This Code is contributed by nitin mittal.
<?php// PHP program to print shortest possible path to// type all characters of given string using a remote // Function to print shortest possible path to// type all characters of given string using a remotefunction printPath($str){    $i = 0;    // start from character 'A' present at position (0, 0)    $curX = $curY = 0;    while ($i < strlen($str))    {        // find coordinates of next character        $nextX = (int)((ord($str[$i]) - ord('A')) / 5);        $nextY = (ord($str[$i]) - ord('B') + 1) % 5;         // Move Up if destination is above        while ($curX > $nextX)        {            echo "Move Up\n";            $curX--;        }         // Move Left if destination is to the left        while ($curY > $nextY)        {            echo "Move Left\n";            $curY--;        }         // Move down if destination is below        while ($curX < $nextX)        {            echo "Move Down\n";            $curX++;        }         // Move Right if destination is to the right        while ($curY < $nextY)        {            echo "Move Right\n";            $curY++;        }         // At this point, destination is reached        echo "Press OK\n";        $i++;    }} // Driver code    $str = "COZY";     printPath($str);  // This code is contributed by chandan_jnu?>
<script>     // JavaScript program to print shortest    // possible path to type all    // characters of given string    // using a remote         // Function to print shortest    // possible path to type all    // characters of given string    // using a remote    function printPath(str)    {        let i = 0;                  // start from character 'A'        // present at position (0, 0)        let curX = 0, curY = 0;        while (i < str.length)        {                          // find coordinates of            // next character            let nextX = parseInt((str[i].charCodeAt() -            'A'.charCodeAt()) / 5, 10);            let nextY = (str[i].charCodeAt() -            'B'.charCodeAt() + 1) % 5;              // Move Up if destination            // is above            while (curX > nextX)            {                document.write("Move Up" + "</br>");                curX--;            }              // Move Left if destination            // is to the left            while (curY > nextY)            {                document.write("Move Left" + "</br>");                curY--;            }              // Move down if destination            // is below            while (curX < nextX)            {                document.write("Move Down" + "</br>");                curX++;            }              // Move Right if destination            // is to the right            while (curY < nextY)            {                document.write("Move Right" + "</br>");                curY++;            }              // At this point, destination            // is reached            document.write("Press OK" + "</br>");            i++;        }    }         let str = "COZY";      printPath(str);   </script>
Output: 
Move Right
Move Right
Press OK
Move Down
Move Down
Move Right
Move Right
Press OK
Move Left
Move Left
Move Left
Move Left
Move Down
Move Down
Move Down
Press OK
Move Up
Move Right
Move Right
Move Right
Move Right
Press OK
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nitin mittal
Sanjit_Prasad
Chandan_Kumar
nidhi_biet
sumitgumber28
divyeshrabadiya07
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Shortest Path
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Shortest Path
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