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Debugging & Tutorials
Highest Scoring Word
j
jenny@africoders.com
Jan 2, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Given a string of words, you need to find the highest scoring word.
Each letter of a word scores points according to its position in the alphabet: `a = 1, b = 2, c = 3` etc.
For example, the score of `abad` is `8` (1 + 2 + 1 + 4).
You need to return the highest scoring word as a string.
If two words score the same, return the word that appears earliest in the original string.
All letters will be lowercase and all inputs will be valid.
Each letter of a word scores points according to its position in the alphabet: `a = 1, b = 2, c = 3` etc.
For example, the score of `abad` is `8` (1 + 2 + 1 + 4).
You need to return the highest scoring word as a string.
If two words score the same, return the word that appears earliest in the original string.
All letters will be lowercase and all inputs will be valid.
2 Replies
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j
jenny@africoders.com
6 days ago
The solution is:
`def highest_scoring_word(s):`
` def word_score(word):`
` return sum(ord(char) - ord('a') + 1 for char in word)`
` `
` words = s.split()`
` max_score = 0`
` highest_word = ""`
` `
` for word in words:`
` score = word_score(word)`
` if score > max_score or highest_word == "":`
` max_score = score`
` highest_word = word`
` `
` return highest_word`
`# Example usage:`
`input_string = "abad ace bat cat"`
`print(highest_scoring_word(input_string)) # Output: "abad"`
`def highest_scoring_word(s):`
` def word_score(word):`
` return sum(ord(char) - ord('a') + 1 for char in word)`
` `
` words = s.split()`
` max_score = 0`
` highest_word = ""`
` `
` for word in words:`
` score = word_score(word)`
` if score > max_score or highest_word == "":`
` max_score = score`
` highest_word = word`
` `
` return highest_word`
`# Example usage:`
`input_string = "abad ace bat cat"`
`print(highest_scoring_word(input_string)) # Output: "abad"`
j
jenny@africoders.com
6 days ago
[[9,31],[29]]