Python: Find smallest and largest word in a given string

Last update on June 12 2025 12:41:29 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Find smallest and largest words.

Write a Python program to find the smallest and largest words in a given string.

Vasual Presentation:

Flowchart:

Sample Solution:

Python Code:

# Function to find smallest and largest word
def smallest_largest_words(str1):

  word = ""
  all_words = [];

  # Add space to end to capture last word
  str1 = str1 + " "  

  # Split to words
  for i in range(0, len(str1)):
    if(str1[i] != ' '):
      word = word + str1[i];
    else:
      all_words.append(word);
      word = "";

  # Initialize small and large  
  small = large = all_words[0];

  # Find smallest and largest 
  for k in range(0, len(all_words)):
    if(len(small) > len(all_words[k])):
      small = all_words[k];
    if(len(large) < len(all_words[k])):
      large = all_words[k];

  return small,large;

# Test string
str1 = "Write a Java program to sort an array of given integers using Quick sort Algorithm.";

# Print original string
print("Original Strings:\n",str1)

# Find smallest and largest words
small, large = smallest_largest_words(str1)

# Print result
print("Smallest word: " + small);
print("Largest word: " + large); 

Sample Output:

Original Strings:
 Write a Java program to sort an array of given integers using Quick sort Algorithm.
Smallest word: a
Largest word: Algorithm.

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a Python program to identify the shortest and longest words in a sentence using split() and min()/max() with a custom key.
• Write a Python program to iterate through a list of words and return the word with the minimum and maximum length.
• Write a Python program to use sorted() with a key based on word length and return the first and last elements as the smallest and largest words.
• Write a Python program to implement a function that processes a string and outputs both the smallest and largest words in a case-insensitive manner.

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