private static int minLen(String... patterns) {
    int minLen = patterns[0].length();
    for (String str : patterns) {
      if (str.length() < minLen) {
        minLen = str.length();
      }
    }
    return minLen;
  }
private static int minLen ( String ... patterns ) { int minLen = patterns [ 0 ] . length ( ) ; for ( String str : patterns ) { if ( str . length ( ) < minLen ) { minLen = str . length ( ) ; } } return minLen ; }
Find the shortest of all patterns.
@param patterns
@return