Provided Code

// Both methods are static in an unnamed class
public static String scrambleWord(String word) {
    /* part (a) */
}
public static void scrambleOrRemove(ArrayList wordList) { /* part (b) */ }

Part A — scrambleWord (6 Points)

Write scrambleWord(). Return a scrambled version of word: scan left to right; if position i has 'A' and position i+1 has a non-'A', swap those two characters and skip position i+1 (so it cannot be swapped again).

Check Answer Clear

public static String scrambleWord(String word)
{
    String result = "";
    int i = 0;

    while (i < word.length() - 1)
    {
        if (word.charAt(i) == 'A' && word.charAt(i + 1) != 'A')
        {
            result += word.charAt(i + 1);
            result += word.charAt(i);
            i += 2;  // skip both — neither can be re-swapped
        }
        else
        {
            result += word.charAt(i);
            i++;
        }
    }

    // Append last character if not already consumed by a swap
    if (i < word.length())
    {
        result += word.charAt(i);
    }

    return result;
}

Part B — scrambleOrRemove (3 Points)

Write scrambleOrRemove(). For each word in wordList: if scrambleWord(word) differs from word, replace it with the scrambled version; otherwise remove it from the list.

Check Answer Clear

public static void scrambleOrRemove(ArrayList wordList)
{
    for (int i = wordList.size() - 1; i >= 0; i--)
    {
        String word = wordList.get(i);
        String scrambled = scrambleWord(word);

        if (scrambled.equals(word))
        {
            wordList.remove(i);
        }
        else
        {
            wordList.set(i, scrambled);
        }
    }
}

Frequently Asked Questions