I’m working on a project where I need to modify words by changing double letters to single ones. For example, I want to turn the word bookkeeper into bokeper.
Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
function simplifyWord(word) {
return word.replace(/(.)\1/g, '$1');
}
console.log(simplifyWord('bookkeeper'));
But this removes all double letters, which isn’t quite what I want. I only need to change the first instance of a double letter.
Is there a way to do this using regex or some other method? I’m pretty new to JS and could use some guidance. Thanks in advance for any help!
I’ve dealt with similar string manipulation tasks before, and I’ve found that a combination of regex and a custom function can be quite effective. Here’s an approach that might work for your specific requirement:
function simplifyWord(word) {
let seenDoubles = new Set();
return word.replace(/(.)\1/g, (match, char) => {
if (seenDoubles.has(char)) {
return match;
}
seenDoubles.add(char);
return char;
});
}
This function uses a Set to keep track of which letters have already been simplified. It only simplifies the first occurrence of each double letter, which should give you the desired result of ‘bokeper’ for ‘bookkeeper’.
The regex /(.)\1/g matches any repeated character, and the replacement function checks if we’ve seen this double before. If not, we simplify it and add it to our set. Give it a shot and see if it meets your needs!
I’ve encountered a similar challenge in one of my projects. Instead of using regex, you might want to consider a loop-based approach. Here’s a function that could work for your use case:
function simplifyWord(word) {
let result = ‘’;
let prevChar = ‘’;
for (let char of word) {
if (char !== prevChar) {
result += char;
}
prevChar = char;
}
return result;
}
This method iterates through each character, only adding it to the result if it’s different from the previous one. It should handle words like ‘bookkeeper’ correctly, turning them into ‘bokeper’. Give it a try and let me know if it solves your problem!