title: 2-Dimensional Array
body: <p>We are given an assignment regarding 2-D array which states:<br><br>
  Given a rectangular 2-d <code> char grid [row] [col] </code> and a <code> char </code> to look for, find the smallest rectangle that contains all the occurrences of that char and returns its area. If there is only a single occurrence of the char, then the rectangle to enclose it is 1x1 and the area is 1. If the character does not appear, return an area of 0.<br> Here is the link to the problem and an example: <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs108/handouts081/03HW1CodeCamp.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs108/handouts081/03HW1CodeCamp.pdf</a> (page 2) but we have to use <code> int charArea (char[][] grid, char ch) </code> instead of <code> int charArea (char ch) </code> <br><br>
  Please help me come up with an algorithm. I am new in Java and I'm having a hard time thinking of a pseudocode/code. All I know is </p>
  
  <pre><code>import java.util.*;
  
  public class Area {
  
      public static int charArea (char[][] grid, char ch) {
          for (int i=0; i&lt;3; i++) { //row
              for (int j=0; j&lt;4; j++) { //column
              // What now, please?                        
              }
          }
          return answer;
      }
  
      public static void main(String[] args) {
          char[][] grid = {
                  {'a', 'b', 'c', 'd'},
                  {'a', ' ', 'c', 'd'},
                  {'x', 'b', 'c', 'a'}
          };
          Scanner input = new Scanner (System.in);
          System.out.print("Enter a character to look for: ");
          String temp = input.nextLine();
          char ch = temp.charAt(0);
          System.out.print(charArea(grid, ch));
      }
  
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Just please help me design an algorithm/pseudocode (or code, if you don't mind haha). Thank you so much!</p>