Given 2 strings. Determine whether they can match in 0 or 1 swaps. StringA = "hello" StringB="oellh

Question Analysis

The question asks whether two given strings can match each other with at most one swap of characters. A swap involves selecting two positions in one string and swapping the characters at those positions. The problem requires determining if StringA ("hello") can be transformed into StringB ("oellh") by swapping characters zero or one time.

To solve this:

1. Check if the strings are already identical: If they are, zero swaps are needed.
2. Count the mismatched positions: If there are exactly two mismatched positions, a single swap might make the strings identical.
3. Check if a swap can resolve the mismatch: For two mismatched positions, ensure that swapping the characters at these positions in one string results in the other string.

Answer

To determine if StringA ("hello") and StringB ("oellh") can match with at most one swap, follow these steps:

1. Compare the Strings:

   • Identify the positions where the characters in StringA and StringB differ.

2. Count Mismatches:

   • Count the number of positions where the characters differ. Here, the mismatches occur at positions:
     • Index 0: 'h' (StringA) vs 'o' (StringB)
     • Index 4: 'o' (StringA) vs 'h' (StringB)

3. Determine Swap Possibility:

   • Since there are exactly two mismatched positions, check if swapping these characters in StringA results in StringB. Swap 'h' at index 0 with 'o' at index 4 in StringA:
     • Swapped StringA: "oellh"

4. Verify Result:

   • The swapped version of StringA ("oellh") is identical to StringB.

Conclusion:

• The two strings can match with exactly one swap.

Therefore, StringA can be transformed into StringB with one swap, satisfying the condition of the problem.