Solution: Find the Difference
Explore how to use bitwise XOR operations to identify the index of an extra character between two strings efficiently. This lesson guides you through a step-by-step approach to solve the problem with linear time complexity and constant space, helping you understand bitwise manipulation techniques for coding interviews.
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