if len(strs) == 0 {
		return ""
	}
	xfix := strs[0]
	// short-circuit single-element list
	if len(strs) == 1 {
		return xfix
	}
	// compare first to rest
	for _, str := range strs[1:] {
		xfixl := len(xfix)
		strl := len(str)
		// short-circuit empty strings
		if xfixl == 0 || strl == 0 {
			return ""
		}
		// maximum possible length
		maxl := xfixl
		if strl < maxl {
			maxl = strl
		}