Kotlin: how to swap character in String - kotlin

Question

I would like to swap a string from "abcde" to "bcdea". So I wrote my code as below in Kotlin
var prevResult = "abcde"
var tmp = prevResult[0]
for (i in 0..prevResult.length - 2) {
prevResult[i] = prevResult[i+1] // Error on preveResult[i]
}
prevResult[prevResult.length-1] = tmp // Error on preveResult[prevResult.lengt-1]
It errors out as stated above comment line. What did I do wrong? How could I fix this and get what I want?

Answer 1

Strings in Kotlin just like in Java are immutable, so there is no string.set(index, value) (which is what string[index] = value is equivalent to).
To build a string from pieces you could use a StringBuilder, construct a CharSequence and use joinToString, operate on a plain array (char[]) or do result = result + nextCharacter (creates a new String each time -- this is the most expensive way).
Here's how you could do this with StringBuilder:
var prevResult = "abcde"
var tmp = prevResult[0]
var builder = StringBuilder()
for (i in 0..prevResult.length - 2) {
builder.append(prevResult[i+1])
}
builder.append(tmp) // Don't really need tmp, use prevResult[0] instead.
var result = builder.toString()
However, a much simpler way to achieve your goal ("bcdea" from "abcde") is to just "move" one character:
var result = prevResult.substring(1) + prevResult[0]
or using the Sequence methods:
var result = prevResult.drop(1) + prevResult.take(1)

Answer 2

You can use drop(1) and first() (or take(1)) to do it in one line:
val str = "abcde"
val r1 = str.drop(1) + str.first()
val r2 = str.drop(1) + str.take(1)
As to your code, Kotlin String is immutable and you cannot modify its characters. To achieve what you want, you can convert a String to CharArray, modify it and then make a new String of it:
val r1 = str.toCharArray().let {
for (i in 0..it.lastIndex - 1)
it[i] = it[i+1]
it[it.lastIndex] = str[0] // str is unchanged
String(it)
}
(let is used for conciseness to avoid creating more variables)
Also, you can write a more general version of this operation as an extension function for String:
fun String.rotate(n: Int) = drop(n % length) + take(n % length)
Usage:
val str = "abcde"
val r1 = str.rotate(1)

Answer 3

Simpler solution: Just use toMutableList() to create a MutableList of Char and then join it all together with joinToString.
Example:
Given a String input, we want to exchange characters at positions posA and posB:
val chars = input.toMutableList()
val temp = chars[posA]
chars[posA] = chars[posB]
chars[posB] = temp
return chars.joinToString(separator = "")

Answer 4

Since Strings are immutable, you will have to copy the source string into an array, make changes to the array, then create a new string from the modified array. Look into:
getChars() to copy the string chars into an array.
Perform your algorithm on that array, making changes to it as needed.
Convert the modified array back into a String with String(char[]).