title: How to zip 2 strings into a new string in python
body: <p>I am try to figure out how to zip two strings of different length into one string alternating the chars and preserving the leftover chars in the longer string. Example: </p>
  
  <pre><code>a = '12345'
  b = 'abcdefgh'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I tried <code>zip(a,b)</code> but it returns a list of tuples and cuts off when there aren't equal length strings:</p>
  
  <pre><code>[('1', 'a'), ('2', 'b'), ('3', 'c'), ('4', 'd'), ('5', 'e')]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I need to get just the new string out. Example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>result = 1a2b3c4d5efgh
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How can this be done?</p>