Merge two strings by taking characters alternatively

Given two string write a function to merge both by taking characters alternatively
s1 = "Python"

s2 = "Django"

Output = "PDyjtahnogno"

	def mergeAlternative(s1, s2):
	result = "" # output

	# using while loop to get each character
	i = 0 # index for while
	while i < len(s1):
	result += s1[i] + s2[i]
	i += 1
	# end while
	return result

	s1 = "Python"
	s2 = "Django"
	print(mergeAlternative(s1, s2))

view raw merge2alternative.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Observe it carefully program will work when the length of both strings are equal. However, it fails when two strings are of different length and gives an error.

ERROR: index out of range.
A solution to handle this situation.

s1 = "Javascript"

s2 = "NodeJS"

Output = "JNaovdaeSJcSript"

	def mergeAlternative(s1, s2):
	result = ""

	i, j = 0, 0

	while i < len(s1) or j < len(s2): # will work for both index

	if i < len(s1): # check if exists then print
	result += s1[i]
	i += 1

	if j < len(s2):
	result += s2[j]
	j += 1

	# end while

	return result

	s1 = "JavaScript"
	s2 = "NodeJS"
	print(mergeAlternative(s1, s2))
	# you can also take iterate using single comparison which is bigger