Python – Equidistant consecutive characters Strings

Equidistant consecutive character strings are strings where the ASCII difference between consecutive characters remains constant throughout the string. For example, in "abc", each character is 1 ASCII value apart, while in "agms", each character is 6 ASCII values apart.

Understanding the Concept

To check if a string has equidistant consecutive characters, we need to ?

• Calculate the ASCII difference between the first two characters
• Verify that all other consecutive pairs have the same difference
• Use ord() to get ASCII values and all() to check the condition

Example

Here's how to find all equidistant consecutive character strings from a list ?

strings_list = ["abc", "egfg", "mpsv", "abed", 'xzbd', 'agms']

print("The list is :")
print(strings_list)

# Find strings with equidistant consecutive characters
result = [string for string in strings_list 
          if all(ord(string[i + 1]) - ord(string[i]) == ord(string[1]) - ord(string[0]) 
                 for i in range(len(string) - 1))]

print("The resultant list is :")
print(result)

The list is :
['abc', 'egfg', 'mpsv', 'abed', 'xzbd', 'agms']
The resultant list is :
['abc', 'mpsv', 'agms']

How It Works

Let's break down the logic step by step ?

# Check individual strings to understand the pattern
test_strings = ["abc", "egfg", "mpsv"]

for string in test_strings:
    print(f"\nAnalyzing '{string}':")
    differences = []
    
    for i in range(len(string) - 1):
        diff = ord(string[i + 1]) - ord(string[i])
        differences.append(diff)
        print(f"  {string[i]} to {string[i+1]}: {ord(string[i])} to {ord(string[i+1])} = {diff}")
    
    is_equidistant = all(d == differences[0] for d in differences)
    print(f"  All differences equal? {is_equidistant}")

Analyzing 'abc':
  a to b: 97 to 98 = 1
  b to c: 98 to 99 = 1
  All differences equal? True

Analyzing 'egfg':
  e to g: 101 to 103 = 2
  g to f: 103 to 102 = -1
  f to g: 102 to 103 = 1
  All differences equal? False

Analyzing 'mpsv':
  m to p: 109 to 112 = 3
  p to s: 112 to 115 = 3
  s to v: 115 to 118 = 3
  All differences equal? True

Alternative Approach Using Function

For better readability, we can create a dedicated function ?

def is_equidistant(string):
    """Check if a string has equidistant consecutive characters."""
    if len(string) < 2:
        return True
    
    expected_diff = ord(string[1]) - ord(string[0])
    
    for i in range(len(string) - 1):
        if ord(string[i + 1]) - ord(string[i]) != expected_diff:
            return False
    
    return True

# Test the function
strings_list = ["abc", "egfg", "mpsv", "abed", 'xzbd', 'agms']
result = [string for string in strings_list if is_equidistant(string)]

print("Equidistant strings:", result)

Equidistant strings: ['abc', 'mpsv', 'agms']

Comparison

Conclusion

Use ord() to get ASCII values and all() to check if consecutive character differences are equal. The list comprehension approach is concise, while a dedicated function improves code readability and reusability.