Solution: Find the Difference
Explore how to find the extra character between two nearly equal strings by applying bitwise XOR operations. This lesson guides you through an optimized approach that runs in linear time and constant space, helping you solve similar coding interview problems efficiently and confidently.
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