Strong password

You are given a string, $str. Write a program to return the minimum number of steps required to make the given string a very strong password. If it is already strong then return 0.

Criteria:

• It must have at least 6 characters.
• It must contains at least one lower-case letter, at least one upper-case letter and at least one digit.
• It shouldn't contain 3 repeating characters in a row.

The following can be considered as one step:

• Insert one character
• Delete one character
• Replace one character with another

Examples

Example 1
Input: $str = "a"
Output: 5

Example 2
Input: $str = "aB2"
Output: 3

Example 3
Input: $str = "PaaSW0rd"
Output: 0

Example 4
Input: $str = "Paaasw0rd"
Output: 1

Example 5
Input: $str = "aaaaa"
Output: 2

Analysis

A few comments to start:

• I have assumed 'strong' and 'very strong' mean the same
• I have assumed non-alphanumeric characters are excluded
• The output passwords don't meet today's standards of good passwords, so don't use them!

In the following, a represents any lower case letter, Z any upper-case letter and 9 any digit.

Stage 1 I believe that the best strategy is to handle first any sequences of 3 (or more) repeated characters, and to do this by inserting a different character (repeatedly if necessary) after the second character:

aaa → aaZa
aaaaaa → aaZaaaa → aaZaaZaa
aaaZZZ → aa9aZZ9Z

While doing the above, if the password lacks any of the three classes of character (ie a, Z or 9), the inserted character(s) can be chosen to remedy or partly remedy that lack.

Stage 2 Next, if the password still lacks any of an a, Z or 9, add the missing one(s) to the end:

aZaZaZaZaZ → aZaZaZaZaZ9
abcdef → abcdefG7

Stage 3 Lastly, if the password contains fewer than 6 characters, add characters to the end to bring the total to 6, taking care not to create a new triplet.

aZa → aZa9 → aZa9Z → aZa9Z9

Stage 1 will, at most, take int(length($password) / 3)) steps. Stage 2 will add, at most, 2 steps. Stage 3 will add at most 6 steps (6 only if the password is initially an empty string).

I believe that there is no solution that will require fewer steps, but am ready to be challenged. I have not used the permitted 'delete a character' or 'replace a character' steps as I don't think they lead to a fewer-steps solution, but again I am prepared to be proved wrong.

If you are checking passwords for strength in a production environment I recommend that you look at Have I been pwned, and I also recommend zxcvbn from Dropbox - amongst many others.

Dealing the task in multiple stages is the coolest approach and easy to follow. DIY tool on top is bonus, you would definitely love to play.

This review may cover either or both challenges for this week.

Try it 

Try running the script with any input:

Your $password =

example: Aaardvarkkk99

⤡

#!/usr/bin/perl

# Blog: http://ccgi.campbellsmiths.force9.co.uk/challenge

use v5.26;    # The Weekly Challenge - 2024-09-16
use utf8;     # Week 287 - task 1 - Strong password
use warnings; # Peter Campbell Smith
binmode STDOUT, ':utf8';

strong_password('aaabbbcccccc', '4 triplets, no upper or digit');
strong_password('123abcdef',    'no upper case');
strong_password('abcdefghijkl', 'no upper or digit');
strong_password('ABCD5aa6FGHI', 'no change needed');
strong_password('Mi5',          'too short');
strong_password('',             'null');

sub strong_password {
    
    my ($password, $comment, $steps, @upper, @lower, @digit, $props, $r, $insert, $length);
    
    ($password, $comment) =  @_;
    $steps = 0;
    @upper = ('A' .. 'Z');
    @lower = ('a' .. 'z');
    @digit = ('0' .. '9');

    # stage 1 - deal with triplets
    while (1) {
        $props = assess($password);
        $r = $props->{triplet};
        last unless $r;
        $insert = '';
        do {
            $insert = $digit[rand(10)] unless $props->{digit};
            $insert = $lower[rand(26)] unless $props->{lower};
            $insert = $upper[rand(26)] unless $insert;
        } until $insert ne $r;
        $password =~ s|$r$r$r|$r$r$insert$r|;
        $steps ++;
    }
    
    # stage 2 - append any missing class of character
    $length = length($password);
    $password .= $lower[rand(26)] unless $props->{lower};
    $password .= $upper[rand(26)] unless $props->{upper};
    $password .= $digit[rand(10)] unless $props->{digit};
    
    # stage 3 - pad if necessary to 6 chars
    $password .= $lower[rand(26)] while length($password) < 6;
    $steps += length($password) - $length;
        
    say qq[\nInput:  \$password = '$_[0]' ($comment)];
    say qq[Output:             '$password'] .
        qq[ after $steps step] . ($steps == 1 ? '' : 's');
}

sub assess {
    
    my ($password, %props);
    
    # get properties of password
    $password = $_[0];
    $props{lower} = $password =~ m|[a-z]|;
    $props{upper} = $password =~ m|[A-Z]|;
    $props{digit} = $password =~ m|[0-9]|;
    $props{triplet} = $password =~ m|(.)\1\1| ? $1 : '';
    return \%props;
}
    

36 lines of code

Output from script

Input:  $password = 'aaabbbcccccc' (4 triplets, no upper or digit)
Output:             'aa7abbPbccBccHcc' after 4 steps

Input:  $password = '123abcdef' (no upper case)
Output:             '123abcdefA' after 1 step

Input:  $password = 'abcdefghijkl' (no upper or digit)
Output:             'abcdefghijklZ8' after 2 steps

Input:  $password = 'ABCD5aa6FGHI' (no change needed)
Output:             'ABCD5aa6FGHI' after 0 steps

Input:  $password = 'Mi5' (too short)
Output:             'Mi5pot' after 3 steps

Input:  $password = '' (null)
Output:             'sL8pmb' after 6 steps