Program to check whether two string arrays are equivalent or not in Python

Suppose we have two string arrays word1 and word2, we need to check whether they represent the same string when their elements are concatenated in order. A string can be represented by an array if concatenating all elements in that array forms the original string.

So, if the input is like word1 = ["ko", "lka", "ta"] and word2 = ["k", "olk", "at", "a"], then the output will be True as both arrays form "kolkata" when concatenated.

Approach

To solve this, we will follow these steps:

• Initialize two empty strings s1 and s2

• Concatenate all strings in word1 to form s1

• Concatenate all strings in word2 to form s2

• Compare s1 and s2 for equality

Method 1: Using String Concatenation

The basic approach concatenates strings using a loop ?

def solve(word1, word2):
    s1 = ''
    s2 = ''
    for i in word1:
        s1 += i
    for i in word2:
        s2 += i
    return s1 == s2

word1 = ["ko", "lka", "ta"]
word2 = ["k", "olk", "at", "a"]
print(solve(word1, word2))

True

Method 2: Using join() Method

A more efficient approach using Python's built-in join() method ?

def solve(word1, word2):
    s1 = ''.join(word1)
    s2 = ''.join(word2)
    return s1 == s2

word1 = ["ko", "lka", "ta"]
word2 = ["k", "olk", "at", "a"]
print(solve(word1, word2))

True

Method 3: One-Line Solution

The most concise approach using direct comparison ?

def solve(word1, word2):
    return ''.join(word1) == ''.join(word2)

word1 = ["ko", "lka", "ta"]
word2 = ["k", "olk", "at", "a"]
print(solve(word1, word2))

True

Example with Different Results

Let's test with arrays that form different strings ?

def solve(word1, word2):
    return ''.join(word1) == ''.join(word2)

word1 = ["hello", "world"]
word2 = ["hel", "lo", "wor", "ld"]
word3 = ["hell", "owo", "rld"]

print(f"word1 vs word2: {solve(word1, word2)}")
print(f"word1 vs word3: {solve(word1, word3)}")
print(f"Concatenated word1: {''.join(word1)}")
print(f"Concatenated word3: {''.join(word3)}")

word1 vs word2: True
word1 vs word3: False
Concatenated word1: helloworld
Concatenated word3: helloworld

Comparison

Conclusion

The join() method provides the most efficient and readable solution for checking string array equivalence. Use the one-line approach for concise code or the basic concatenation method when step-by-step logic is preferred.