Solution: Find the Difference
Explore how to detect the index of an extra character present in only one of two strings by using bitwise XOR operations. Understand the step-by-step process that leverages XOR properties to efficiently isolate the unmatched character and determine its position. This lesson helps you master solving this problem with optimal time and space complexity.
Statement
Given two strings, str1 and str2, find the index of the extra character that is present in only one of the strings.
Note: If multiple instances of the extra character exist, return the index of the first occurrence of the character in the longer string.
Constraints:
-
str1.length,str2.length - Either
str2.lengthstr1.length + 1, or,str1.length