Create the longest common prefix with the direct neighbour

Solution Breakdown

• Assume that the longest prefix is the first word of the dataset

• Compare that second word in the list with the current long prefix and create a new longest prefix possible

• Do this with each subsequent neighbours

• At any point the longest prefix is empty, return empty string

• If there are no more neighbours, return the prefix

Example of looking at differences

sample

explanation

Pseudocode

# INSERT PSEUDOCODE HERE

Python Solution

def longestCommonPrefix(words: list[str]) -> str:
    # Base Case: list of words only has 1 value
    if len(words) == 1:
        return words[0]
    
    prefix = words[0]
    
    for i in range(1, len(words)):
        neighbour = words[i]

        while not neighbour.startswith(prefix):
            prefix = prefix[:len(prefix)-1]
            if prefix == "":
                return ""
        # end of while
    # end of for
    return prefix
# end of longestCommonPrefix()

Code Explanation

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Connected Readings

• Functions (Link)

• Type Hinting Functions (Link)

• List (Link)

• Dictionary (Link)