String Merging Algorithm

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Questions and Answers

What is the purpose of initializing an empty string 'ret' in the solution?

To store the merged result of the two input strings (correct)

To store the length of the input strings

To store the characters of the input strings separately

To store the indexes of the input strings

What is the purpose of the two indexes 'i' and 'j' in the solution?

To keep track of the current position in the input strings (correct)

To store the length of the input strings

To store the characters of the input strings separately

To store the merged result of the two input strings

What is the condition for the 'while' loop to merge characters from the input strings alternately?

Until both strings reach their end

Until one of the strings reaches its end (correct)

Until the lengths of the strings are equal

Until the strings are swapped

What happens after the first 'while' loop completes?

The remaining characters from the longer string are appended Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the additional 'while' loops?

To append the remaining characters from the longer string Signup and view all the answers

What is the final result of the solution?

A string containing the characters from both input strings in an alternating order Signup and view all the answers

What happens if the input strings have different lengths?

The remaining characters from the longer string are appended to the result Signup and view all the answers

What is the benefit of using indexes 'i' and 'j' in the solution?

It makes the solution more efficient and easier to implement Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of the 'while' loop in the merging alternately step?

To merge characters from both strings alternately Signup and view all the answers

What happens when the first 'while' loop completes?

The remaining characters are appended to the merged string Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the additional 'while' loops?

To handle the remaining characters in the input strings Signup and view all the answers

What is the result of the solution if the input strings have the same length?

The merged string will have alternating characters from both strings Signup and view all the answers

What will happen if the input strings are swapped in the solution?

The merged string will be the same Signup and view all the answers

What is the main advantage of the solution?

It can handle input strings of different lengths Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Initialization

Initialize an empty string ret to store the merged result.
Determine the lengths of input strings word1 and word2 and store them in length1 and length2.
Initialize two indexes, i and j, both set to zero, to track the current position in word1 and word2.

Merging Alternately

Use a while loop to merge characters from word1 and word2 alternately.
The loop runs as long as there are characters left in both strings.
Append the current character from word1 to ret and increment the index i.
Append the current character from word2 to ret and increment the index j.
This process adds one character from each string alternately to the result string ret.

Handling Remaining Characters

After the first while loop, one of the strings might still have remaining characters if it is longer than the other.
Use two additional while loops to append the remaining characters to ret.
The first while loop appends remaining characters from word1 to ret, incrementing the index i each time.
The second while loop appends remaining characters from word2 to ret, incrementing the index j each time.

Returning the Result

After all characters from both strings have been merged and any remaining characters have been appended, return the merged string ret.
The resulting string ret contains characters from word1 and word2 in an alternating order, with any extra characters from the longer string appended at the end.

Example Walkthroughs

Example 1: Merging "abc" and "pqr" results in "apbqcr".
Example 2: Merging "ab" and "pqrs" results in "apbqrs".
Example 3: Merging "abcd" and "pq" results in "apbqcd".

Initialization

Initialize an empty string ret to store the merged result.
Determine the lengths of input strings word1 and word2 and store them in length1 and length2.
Initialize two indexes, i and j, both set to zero, to track the current position in word1 and word2.

Merging Alternately

Use a while loop to merge characters from word1 and word2 alternately.
The loop runs as long as there are characters left in both strings.
Append the current character from word1 to ret and increment the index i.
Append the current character from word2 to ret and increment the index j.
This process adds one character from each string alternately to the result string ret.

Handling Remaining Characters

After the first while loop, one of the strings might still have remaining characters if it is longer than the other.
Use two additional while loops to append the remaining characters to ret.
The first while loop appends remaining characters from word1 to ret, incrementing the index i each time.
The second while loop appends remaining characters from word2 to ret, incrementing the index j each time.

Returning the Result

After all characters from both strings have been merged and any remaining characters have been appended, return the merged string ret.
The resulting string ret contains characters from word1 and word2 in an alternating order, with any extra characters from the longer string appended at the end.