#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
// look up the first character in the string.
// using hash table to reduce the time used.
char look_up(const char* src)
{
int hash_table[256];// all ascii characters are 256
const char* p = src;
memset(hash_table, 0x00, sizeof(hash_table));// sizeof(hash_table) == 4*256
while(*p != '\0')
{
++hash_table[(int)*p];
++p;
}
p = src;
while(*p != '\0')
{
if (hash_table[*p]==1) return *p;
++p;
}
return '\0';
}
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
char* src = "abaccdeff";
cout<<look_up(src)<<endl;
return 0;
}