Merge Strings Alternately: LeetCode Java Solution

This Java solution for LeetCode 1768, Merge Strings Alternately, shows how to combine two strings with a simple pointer-based approach and handle leftover characters cleanly.

Problem Statement

You are given two strings word1 and word2. Merge the strings by adding letters in alternating order, starting with word1. If a string is longer than the other, append the additional letters onto the end of the merged string.

Return the merged string.

Explanation

Input:

word1 = “abc”, word2 = “pqr”

Output:

“apbqcr”

The merged string will be merged as so: word1: a b c word2: p q r merged: a p b q c r

Constraints

• 1 <= word1.length, word2.length <= 100
• word1 and word2 consist of lowercase English letters.

Reverse Integer in Java: Simple Explanation and Code

Test Cases

Test Case 1

Input:

word1 = “ab”, word2 = “pqrs”

Output:

“apbqrs”

Notice that as word2 is longer, “rs” is appended to the end. word1: a b word2: p q r s merged: a p b q r s

Test Case 2

Input:

word1 = “abcd”, word2 = “pq”

Output:

“apbqcd”

Notice that as word1 is longer, “cd” is appended to the end. word1: a b c d word2: p q merged: a p b q c d

Solution

Leetcode Link

https://leetcode.com/problems/merge-strings-alternately/