Remove Duplicates In-Place | Dataford Interview Questions

Write a program to remove duplicates in-place from a string.

Because Python strings are immutable, represent the string as a mutable list of one-character strings. Modify the list directly, preserve the original order, and return the list containing only the unique characters.

Function: def remove_duplicates(chars):

Example: ['a', 'b', 'a', 'c'] becomes ['a', 'b', 'c']. Repeated characters are removed after their first occurrence.

Constraints

0 <= len(chars) <= 1000
Each element of chars is a one-character string
Preserve the order of first occurrences
Modify the input list in-place
The input may contain letters, digits, whitespace, and symbols

Function Signature

def remove_duplicates(chars):

Your question is Remove Duplicates In-Place. Start with the requirements in the Question tab.

Run and submit as often as you like. When you're ready, talk me through your approach or go straight to the code.

Problem