# 387_First_Unique_Character_in_a_String ###### tags: `leetcode` ## Problem Statement Given a string, find the first non-repeating character in it and return its index. If it doesn't exist, return -1. - Examples: > s = "leetcode" > return 0. > s = "loveleetcode" > return 2. - Note: You may assume the string contains only lowercase English letters. ## Solution - Because there are only lower-case alpha need to consider, construct an array for 26 characters and conculate the frequencies for each one. ```cpp= int alpha[26]= {0}; for (int i= 0; i< s.length(); i++) { alpha[s[i]- 'a']++; } ``` - After the construction, count from the begining of the array and see whether the frequency is 1, if positive, return this index. ```cpp= for (int i= 0; i< s.length(); i++) { if(alpha[s[i]- 'a']== 1) return i; } return -1; ```