Pairing Heap Merge Lite

Problem

Merge two pairing heaps in one step.

A pairing heap is represented as a nested list: [root_value, child1, child2, ...] where each child is itself a heap. Merging compares the two roots and makes the larger root the first child of the smaller one; ties keep the first heap as the root. None represents an empty heap.

Return the merged heap.

Hint

Only the two roots are compared; the loser becomes the new first child of the winner.

Test cases

case 1

in: [[1,[3],[4]],[2,[5]]]

expected: [1,[2,[5]],[3],[4]]

case 2

in: [[5],[3,[1]]]

expected: [3,[5],[1]]

case 3

in: [null,[1]]

expected: [1]

case 4

in: [null,null]

expected: null

case 5

in: [[2],[2]]

expected: [2,[2]]

Starter codePython

def pairing_merge(a, b):
    # Your code here
    pass

5 test cases · run your code against them in the editor