1/2/25, 12:14 PM Largest Element In An Array
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Largest Element In An Array
Difficulty: Easy
Understanding The Problem
Problem Description
Given an array arr[] of size n , write a program to find the largest
element in it.
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Example 1:
Input: arr[] = [100, 50, 4]
Output: 100
Explanation: 100 is the largest element in the given array.
Solutions
There are various ways to find the largest element. In each programming
language, there is support for finding the max in the library. However,
internally they work the same. Below are some discussed ways to do that.
1. Sorting : Sort the array in ascending order and the last element will be
at the last index.
2. Traverse : Traverse the array while updating the max value.
You may try this problem here.
1. Sorting
To find the largest element from the array, a simple way is to arrange the
elements in ascending order. After sorting, the first element will represent
the smallest element, the next element will be the second smallest, and
going on, the last element will be the largest element of the array.
Solution Steps
Sort the array.
Return the element at the last index of the array.
Pseudo Code
int largestElement(int[] arr, int size) {
// sort the array in ascending order
arr.sort()
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largest_element = arr[size-1]
return largest_element
}
Complexity Analysis
Time Complexity: O(n log n)
Space Complexity: O(1)
Critical Ideas To Think
Why did we return the last element?
If we would have sorted the array in descending order, then which
element we should have returned?
Sorting the array arranges each and every element and that will help us
to find the largest, 2nd largest, 3rd largest elements and so on in
constant time. But is it okay to do that much computation here when
we just have to find the largest element?
2. Traverse
Take a max variable and initialize it with the first element of the array.
Now start iterating over the array and whenever a larger element
encountered then update the max variable otherwise, move forward.
Solution Steps
1. Create a max variable and initialize it with arr[0]
2. Iterate from the first idx to the last idx of the array:
If arr[idx] > max then update max with arr[idx]
3. Return max
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Pseudo Code
int largestElement(int[] arr, int size) {
int max = arr[0]
for(int i = 1 to i < size) {
if(max < arr[i]) {
max = arr[i]
}
}
return max
}
Complexity Analysis
Time Complexity: O(n)
Space Complexity: O(1)
Critical Ideas To Think
Why did we initialize max with arr[0] ?
What if we initialize max with INT_MIN and start the loop from the
0th index. Will that approach would have worked?
What changes do we have to do, when we have to find the 2nd largest
element?
Comparison of Solutions
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Suggested Problems To Solve
Find the smallest element of the array
Find the 2nd largest element of the array
Find the Kth largest element of the array
Please comment down below if you have a better insight in the above approach.
Happy Coding, Enjoy Algorithms!
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