Counting Characters

counting_chars.rb

require 'pry'
## Counts characters, omitting spaces
def char_count(target)
  target = target.gsub(" ","")
  tally = Hash.new(0)
  target.each_char {|x| tally[x] += 1}
  tally
end

puts char_count('Chi putao bu tu putao pi')


def char_positions(target)
  # Assuming the index INCLUDING WHITE SPACE is important
  tally = Hash.new{|h,k| h[k] = []} # What's going on here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2698460/strange-behavior-when-using-hash-default-value-e-g-hash-new
  target.each_char.each_with_index {|x,i| tally[x] << i}
  return tally
end

puts char_positions("Chi putao bu tu putao pi")
puts char_positions(".aaaaaaaabbbbbbbbccccccccdddddddd")