Add Binary Strings Problem Statement

Given two binary strings a and b, add them and return the resultant binary string.

Example One

{
"a": "10",
"b": "01"
}


Output:

"11"


Example Two

{
"a": "110",
"b": "111"
}


Output:

"1101"


Notes

• Return the binary string that is formed by adding two input strings.
• The input string may contain leading zeroes, but the output string should not.
• Do not directly convert input strings to integers. Solve this problem without using any built-in library for handling large numbers.

Constraints:

• 1 <= Length of the input strings <= 10⁵
• All the characters of the input strings will be either 0 or 1.

Code For Add Binary Strings Solution: Iterative

/*
Asymptotic complexity in terms of the total length of input strings `n`:
* Time: O(n).
* Auxiliary space: O(n).
* Total space: O(n).
*/

string add_strings(string &a, string &b) {
// Variables pointing to the last character of the strings.
int i = a.size() – 1, j = b.size() – 1;
// Variable to track the carry at each step.
int carry = 0;
// Answer string.
string answer = “”;

// Looping over the string.
while (i >= 0 || j >= 0) {
// x and y are the current digits.
int x = (i >= 0) ? (a[i–] – ‘0’) : 0;
int y = (j >= 0) ? (b[j–] – ‘0’) : 0;
// currentSum stores Sum of the current digits with previous carry.
int currentSum = x + y + carry;
// Updating answer and carry.
answer = to_string(currentSum % 2) + answer;
carry = currentSum / 2;
}

// If there is carry remain then adding 1 to the left of the answer string.
if (carry > 0) {
answer = to_string(1) + answer;
}

// Removing leading zeros.
reverse(answer.begin(), answer.end());
while (answer.size() > 1 and answer.back() == ‘0’) {
answer.pop_back();
}
reverse(answer.begin(), answer.end());

// Returning the answer.
return answer;
}

We hope that these solutions to the Add binary Strings Problem have helped you level up your coding skills. You can expect problems like these at top tech companies like Amazon and Google.

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