AddBinary.swift

/**
 * Question Link: https://leetcode.com/problems/add-binary/
 * Primary idea: use Carry and iterate from last to start
 * 
 * Note: Swift does not have a way to access a character in a string with O(1), 
 *       thus we have to first transfer the string to a character array
 * Time Complexity: O(n), Space Complexity: O(n)
 *
 */

class AddBinary {
    func addBinary(_ a: String, _ b: String) -> String {
        var sum = 0, carry = 0, res = ""
        let aChars = Array(a.characters), bChars = Array(b.characters)
        var i = aChars.count - 1, j = bChars.count - 1
        
        while i >= 0 || j >= 0 || carry > 0 {
            sum = carry
            if i >= 0 {
                sum += Int(String(aChars[i]))!
                i -= 1
            }
            if j >= 0 {
                sum += Int(String(bChars[j]))!
                j -= 1
            }
            carry = sum / 2
            sum = sum % 2
            res = String(sum) + res
        }
        
        return res
    }
}