443. String Compression.py

'''
Given an array of characters, compress it in-place.

The length after compression must always be smaller than or equal to the original array.

Every element of the array should be a character (not int) of length 1.

After you are done modifying the input array in-place, return the new length of the array.


Follow up:
Could you solve it using only O(1) extra space?


Example 1:
Input:
["a","a","b","b","c","c","c"]

Output:
Return 6, and the first 6 characters of the input array should be: ["a","2","b","2","c","3"]

Explanation:
"aa" is replaced by "a2". "bb" is replaced by "b2". "ccc" is replaced by "c3".
Example 2:
Input:
["a"]

Output:
Return 1, and the first 1 characters of the input array should be: ["a"]

Explanation:
Nothing is replaced.
Example 3:
Input:
["a","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b"]

Output:
Return 4, and the first 4 characters of the input array should be: ["a","b","1","2"].

Explanation:
Since the character "a" does not repeat, it is not compressed. "bbbbbbbbbbbb" is replaced by "b12".
Notice each digit has it's own entry in the array.
Note:
All characters have an ASCII value in [35, 126].
1 <= len(chars) <= 1000.
'''
import collections
counter = 0
chars = ["a","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b","b"]
answer = []
res = collections.Counter(chars)
for k, v in res.items():
    if v == 1:
        answer.append(k)
    else:
        answer.append(k)
        for j in str(v):
            answer.append(j)
print(answer)