equalsWhenOneCharRemoved.py

def equalsWhenOneCharRemoved(x, y):

  lenX = len(x)
  lenY = len(y)

  # If the lengths are not different by 1, its automatically not true
  if abs(lenX - lenY) != 1:
    return False

  count = 0
  i = 0
  j = 0

  while i < lenX and j < lenY:

    # If the characters dont match, check the count.
    if x[i] != y[j]:
      if count == 1:
        return False

      if lenX > lenY:
        i += 1
      elif lenX < lenY:
        j += 1
      else:
        i += 1
        j += 1

      count += 1

    else:
      i += 1
      j += 1

  # if the extra character is at the end.
  if i < lenX and j < lenY:
    count += 1

  return count == 1


# assert equalsWhenOneCharRemoved("x", "y") is False
# assert equalsWhenOneCharRemoved("x", "XX") is False
# assert equalsWhenOneCharRemoved("yy", "yx") is False


# assert equalsWhenOneCharRemoved("abcd", "abxcd") is True
# assert equalsWhenOneCharRemoved("xyz", "xz") is True