36-letterCountII.js

// PLAN: Run thru each word in a string. With each word, hold and store a letter, then compare that letter against the other letters in the word. Keep track of words w/ repeat letters and # of repeat letters.

// STEPS:
// 1. Split the sentence into words.
// 2. Set the necessary counters and indexes. 1 to hold the pole position word, 1 to hold the # of repeated letters that pole position word contains, and 1 to serve as a general counter while we run thru the letters of each word.
// 3. Run thru each word. FOR EACH WORD, do the following:
//    A. Put aside a variable that holds the value of the current word
//    B. Run thru each letter of the current word, FOR EACH LETTER:
//        1) Put aside a variable that holds the value of the current letter
//        2) Run thru each letter (again) of the current word. FOR EACH LETTER:
//          a. IF (we're dealing with 2 different letter/element positions) AND (the value of the letter in the side variable matches the value of the current letter)
//             -> THEN add 1 to the general counter
//    C. IF the (value of the general counter) is greater than the (value of the pole position counter)...
//       -> (value of the general counter) becomes the new (value of the pole position counter) AND that word becomes the new pole position word.
// 4. IF the value of the pole position counter is at least 1, return the pole position word, otherwise return -1

function LetterCount(str) {
  var words = str.split(' ');
  var polePosCount = 0;
  var polePosWord = '';
  var counter = 0;
  for (var i = 0; i < words.length; i++){                 // run thru each word, FOR EACH word...
    var sideWord = words[i];                              // hold the current word in a side variable (this will be the word we're currently working on)
    for (var j = 0; j < sideWord.length; j++){            // run thru each letter in the word, FOR EACH letter...
      var sideLetter = sideWord[j];                       // hold the current letter in a side variable. We are going to compare this letter to the other letters in the word...
      for (var k = 0; k < sideWord.length; k++){          // run thru each letter in the word (again), FOR EACH letter...
        if (j != k && sideLetter === sideWord[k]){        // so long as it's not the same exact letter (by same exact I mean it's not only the same letter value, but also it's in the same exact position) & this letter is the same letter as the letter in the side variable (same value aka same letter)
          counter +=1;                                    // add 1 to the counter
          if (counter > polePosCount){                    // at this point, if the counter is greater than the pole position counter, THEN...
            polePosCount = counter;                       //  - the counter value becomes the new value for the pole position counter
            polePosWord = sideWord;                       //  - the current word becomes the new value for the pole position word
          }
        }
      }
      counter = 0;                                        // reset the counter to 0. Notice the placement. We want to reset after each comparing a side-Letter against all other letters in the current word. So the counter will be reset multiple times in a word.
    }
  }
  if (polePosCount >= 1){
    return polePosWord;
  } else {
    return -1
  }
}