Lexicographically smallest string formed by removing at most one character Last Updated : 04 Apr, 2025 Comments Improve Suggest changes Like Article Like Report Given a string s, the task is to find the lexicographically smallest string that can be formed by removing at most one character from the given string. Examples: Input: s = "abcda" Output: "abca"Explanation: One can remove 'd' to get "abca" which is the lexicographically smallest string possible. Input: s = "aaa"Output: "aa"Approach:Traverse the string and delete the i-th character at the first point where s[i]>s[i+1]. If in case there is no such character then delete the last character in the string. Below is the implementation of the above approach: C++ // C++ program to find the lexicographically // smallest string by removing at most one character #include <bits/stdc++.h> using namespace std; // Function to return the smallest string string smallest(string s) { int l = s.length(); bool flag = false; // to check if we can get lexicographically smallest string by removing one character string ans = ""; // to store resultant string int index = -1; // to store index required to be deleted for (int i = 0; i < l - 1; i++) { // first point where s[i]>s[i+1] if (s[i] > s[i + 1]) { flag = true; index = i; break; } } if (flag == false) { ans = s; return ans; } // Storing resultant string for (int j = 0; j < l; j++) { if (index != j) ans += s[j]; } return ans; } // Driver Code int main() { string s = "abcda"; cout << smallest(s); return 0; } Java // Java program to find the lexicographically // smallest String by removing at most one character class GFG { // Function to return the smallest String static String smallest(String s) { int l = s.length(); String ans = ""; int index = l-1; // iterate the String for (int i = 0; i < l-1; i++) { // first point where s[i]>s[i+1] if (s.charAt(i) > s.charAt(i + 1)) { index = i; break; } } for(int i=0;i<l;i++){ if(i!=index){ ans += s.charAt(i); } } return ans; } // Driver Code public static void main(String[] args) { String s = "abcda"; System.out.println(smallest(s)); } } Python # Python3 program to find the lexicographically # smallest string by removing at most one character # Function to return the smallest string def smallest(s): l = len(s) ans = "" index = l-1 # iterate the string for i in range(l - 1): # first point where s[i]>s[i+1] if (s[i] > s[i + 1]): # append the string without # i-th character in it index = i; break for i in range(l): if(i!=index): ans += s[i]; return ans # Driver Code if __name__ == "__main__": s = "abcda" print(smallest(s)) C# // C# program to find the lexicographically // smallest String by removing at most // one character using System; class GFG { // Function to return the // smallest String static String smallest(String s) { int l = s.Length; String ans = ""; int index = l -1; // iterate the String for (int i = 0; i < l - 1; i++) { // first point where s[i]>s[i+1] if (s[i] > s[i + 1]) { // append the String without // i-th character in it index = i; break; } } for(int i=0;i<l;i++){ if(i!=index) ans += s[i]; } return ans; } // Driver Code public static void Main() { String s = "abcda"; Console.Write(smallest(s)); } } JavaScript // Function to return the smallest String function smallest(s) { let l = s.length; let ans = ""; // iterate the String for (let i = 0; i < l - 1; i++) { // first point where s[i]>s[i+1] if (s[i] > s[i + 1]) { for (let j = 0; j < l; j++) { if (i != j) { ans += s[j]; } } return ans; } } // leave the last character ans = s.substring(0, l - 1); return ans; } // Driver Code let s = "abcda"; console.log(smallest(s)); OutputabcaTime complexity: O(n)Auxiliary Space: O(n) Comment More infoAdvertise with us Next Article Lexicographically smallest string formed by removing at most one character S swetankmodi Follow Improve Article Tags : Strings Competitive Programming DSA Technical Scripter 2018 lexicographic-ordering +1 More Practice Tags : Strings Similar Reads DSA Tutorial - Learn Data Structures and Algorithms DSA (Data Structures and Algorithms) is the study of organizing data efficiently using data structures like arrays, stacks, and trees, paired with step-by-step procedures (or algorithms) to solve problems effectively. 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