1768. Merge Strings Alternately.py

"""
1768. 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."""

class Solution:
    def mergeAlternately(self, word1: str, word2: str) -> str:
        merged = ""
        shortest_length = min(len(word1), len(word2))
        for i in range(shortest_length):
            merged += word1[i] + word2[i]
        if len(word1) > len(word2):
            return merged + word1[shortest_length:]
        else:
            return merged + word2[shortest_length:]