The String Shrinker

A easy Python interview practice problem on DataDriven. Write and execute real python code with instant feedback.

Domain

Python

Difficulty

easy

Seniority

L4

Problem

A storage layer keeps text compact by collapsing repeated characters: given a string `s`, return its run-length encoding, where each run becomes the character followed by its length, and a lone character keeps just itself. If the encoded form would not be shorter than `s`, return `s` unchanged.

Summary

Compress the string. Shorter wins.

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