"""
1768. Merge Strings Alternately (Easy)
https://leetcode.com/problems/merge-strings-alternately/

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.

 

Example 1:
Input: word1 = "abc", word2 = "pqr"
Output: "apbqcr"
Explanation: The merged string will be merged as so:
word1:  a   b   c
word2:    p   q   r
merged: a p b q c r

Example 2:
Input: word1 = "ab", word2 = "pqrs"
Output: "apbqrs"
Explanation: 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

Example 3:
Input: word1 = "abcd", word2 = "pq"
Output: "apbqcd"
Explanation: 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
 

Constraints:

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

"""
# T_C: O(min_len)
# S_C: O(1)
class Solution:
    def mergeAlternately(self, word1: str, word2: str) -> str:
        is_longger_1 = len(word1) > len(word2)
        min_len = min(len(word1), len(word2))
        merged = ""
        for i in range(min_len):
            merged += word1[i]
            merged += word2[i]
            
        if is_longger_1:
            merged += word1[i+1:]
        else:
            merged += word2[i+1:]
        
        return merged
