Maximum occurring character in an input string | Set-2 - GeeksforGeeks

11 Mar, 2022
Given a string containing lowercase characters. The task is to print the maximum occurring character in the input string. If 2 or more characters appear the same number of times, print the lexicographically (alphabetically) lowest (first) character.Examples:  
Input: test sample Output: e ‘t’, ‘e’ and ‘s’ appears 2 times, but ‘e’ is the lexicographically smallest character. Input: sample program Output: a
 
In the previous article, if there are more than one characters occurring the maximum number of time, then any of the characters is returned. In this post, the lexicographically smallest character of all the characters is returned.Approach: Declare a freq[26] array which is used as a hash table to store the frequencies of each character in the input string. Iterate in the string and increase the count of freq[s[i]] for every character. Traverse the freq[] array from left to right and keep track of the character having the maximum frequency so far. The value at freq[i] represents the frequency of character (i + ‘a’).Below is the implementation of the above approach:  
C++
Java
Python3
C#
Javascript
// C++ implementation to find// the maximum occurring character in// an input string which is lexicographically first#include <bits/stdc++.h>using namespace std; // function to find the maximum occurring character in// an input string which is lexicographically firstchar getMaxOccurringChar(char str[]){    // freq[] used as hash table    int freq[26] = { 0 };     // to store maximum frequency    int max = -1;     // to store the maximum occurring character    char result;     // length of 'str'    int len = strlen(str);     // get frequency of each character of 'str'    for (int i = 0; i < len; i++)        freq[str[i]]++;     // for each character, where character is obtained by    // (i + 'a') check whether it is the maximum character    // so far and accodingly update 'result'    for (int i = 0; i < 26; i++)        if (max < freq[i]) {            max = freq[i];            result = (char)(i + 'a');        }     // maximum occurring character    return result;} // Driver Codeint main(){    char str[] = "sample program";    cout << "Maximum occurring character = "         << getMaxOccurringChar(str);    return 0;}
// Java implementation to find// the maximum occurring character in// an input string which is lexicographically first class GFG { // function to find the maximum occurring character in// an input string which is lexicographically first    static char getMaxOccurringChar(char str[]) {        // freq[] used as hash table        int freq[] = new int[26];         // to store maximum frequency        int max = -1;         // to store the maximum occurring character        char result = 0;         // length of 'str'        int len = str.length;         // get frequency of each character of 'str'        for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {            if (str[i] != ' ') {                freq[str[i] - 'a']++;            }        }         // for each character, where character is obtained by        // (i + 'a') check whether it is the maximum character        // so far and accodingly update 'result'        for (int i = 0; i < 26; i++) {            if (max < freq[i]) {                max = freq[i];                result = (char) (i + 'a');            }        }         // maximum occurring character        return result;    } // Driver Code    public static void main(String[] args) {        char str[] = "sample program".toCharArray();        System.out.println("Maximum occurring character = "                + getMaxOccurringChar(str));    }} // This code is contributed by 29AjayKumar
# Python 3 implementation to find the# maximum occurring character in an input# string which is lexicographically first # function to find the maximum occurring# character in an input string which is# lexicographically firstdef getMaxOccurringChar(str):         # freq[] used as hash table    freq = [0 for i in range(100)]     # to store maximum frequency    max = -1     # to store the maximum occurring    # character length of 'str'    len__ = len(str)     # get frequency of each character of 'str'    for i in range(0, len__, 1):        freq[ord(str[i]) - ord('a')] += 1     # for each character, where character    # is obtained by (i + 'a') check whether    # it is the maximum character so far and    # accodingly update 'result'    for i in range(26):        if (max < freq[i]):            max = freq[i]            result = chr(ord('a') + i)     # maximum occurring character    return result # Driver Codeif __name__ == '__main__':    str = "sample program"    print("Maximum occurring character =",                 getMaxOccurringChar(str))     # This code is contributed by# Surendra_Gangwar
// C# implementation to find// the maximum occurring character in// an input string which is lexicographically first  using System;class GFG {  // function to find the maximum occurring character in// an input string which is lexicographically first    static char getMaxOccurringChar(string str) {        // freq[] used as hash table        int[] freq = new int[26];          // to store maximum frequency        int max = -1;          // to store the maximum occurring character        char result = (char)0;          // length of 'str'        int len = str.Length;          // get frequency of each character of 'str'        for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {            if (str[i] != ' ') {                freq[str[i] - 'a']++;            }        }          // for each character, where character is obtained by        // (i + 'a') check whether it is the maximum character        // so far and accodingly update 'result'        for (int i = 0; i < 26; i++) {            if (max < freq[i]) {                max = freq[i];                result = (char) (i + 'a');            }        }          // maximum occurring character        return result;    }  // Driver Code    public static void Main() {        string str = "sample program";        Console.WriteLine("Maximum occurring character = "                + getMaxOccurringChar(str));    }}
<script>// Javascript implementation to find// the maximum occurring character in// an input string which is lexicographically first            // function to find the maximum occurring character in    // an input string which is lexicographically first    function getMaxOccurringChar(str)    {        // freq[] used as hash table        let freq = new Array(26);        for(let i=0;i<freq.length;i++)        {            freq[i]=0;        }           // to store maximum frequency        let max = -1;           // to store the maximum occurring character        let result = 0;           // length of 'str'        let len = str.length;           // get frequency of each character of 'str'        for (let i = 0; i < len; i++) {            if (str[i] != ' ') {                freq[str[i].charCodeAt(0) - 'a'.charCodeAt(0)]++;            }        }           // for each character, where character is obtained by        // (i + 'a') check whether it is the maximum character        // so far and accodingly update 'result'        for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {            if (max < freq[i]) {                max = freq[i];                result =  String.fromCharCode(i + 'a'.charCodeAt(0));            }        }           // maximum occurring character        return result;    }         // Driver Code    let str="sample program".split("");    document.write("Maximum occurring character = "                + getMaxOccurringChar(str));         // This code is contributed by rag2127</script>
Maximum occurring character = a
 
Time Complexity: O(n). Auxiliary Space: O(1).Source: Sabre Interview Experience | Set 2 
29AjayKumar
ukasp
SURENDRA_GANGWAR
rag2127
kumarharshmahour000
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