Problem 362. Find matching string from a list of strings

Jiro Doke

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Write a function that returns a string that is a unique match (if it exists) of the string inStr from a list of strings strList.
When there are no matches, return an empty string.
Match is case-insensitive.
Partial match is allowed. (anywhere in the string)
Exact match wins over partial matches.
When there are multiple partial matches, return an empty string.
Example 1:
   >> inStr = 'ball';
   >> strList = {'ball', 'bell', 'barn'};
   >> outStr = findMatch(inStr, strList)
   outStr =
      ball
Example 2:
   >> inStr = 'EMBER';
   >> strList = {'May', 'June', 'July', 'August', 'September'};
   >> outStr = findMatch(inStr, strList)
   outStr =
      September
Example 3:
   >> inStr = 'Ju';
   >> strList = {'May', 'June', 'July', 'August', 'September'};
   >> outStr = findMatch(inStr, strList)
   outStr =
      ''

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1189 Solutions

272 Solvers

Last Solution submitted on Mar 11, 2026

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Problem Comments

2 Comments

bainhome on 27 May 2015

Tricky one.

Brandon on 29 Mar 2023

This problems needed more test cases. :/

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