func mergeAlternately(word1 string, word2 string) string {
var merged string
m := min(len(word1), len(word2))
for i:=0; i<m; i++ {
merged += string(word1[i])
merged += string(word2[i])
}
if len(word1) > m {
merged += word1[m:]
}
if len(word2) > m {
merged += word2[m:]
}
return merged
}