程序员面试题精选100题(05)－查找最小的k个元素

题目：输入n个整数，输出其中最小的k个。

例如输入1，2，3，4，5，6，7和8这8个数字，则最小的4个数字为1，2，3和4。

分析：这道题最简单的思路莫过于把输入的n个整数排序，这样排在最前面的k个数就是最小的k个数。只是这种思路的时间复杂度为O(nlogn)。我们试着寻找更快的解决思路。

我们可以开辟一个长度为k的数组。每次从输入的n个整数中读入一个数。如果数组中已经插入的元素少于k个，则将读入的整数直接放到数组中。否则长度为k的数组已经满了，不能再往数组里插入元素，只能替换了。如果读入的这个整数比数组中已有k个整数的最大值要小，则用读入的这个整数替换这个最大值；如果读入的整数比数组中已有k个整数的最大值还要大，则读入的这个整数不可能是最小的k个整数之一，抛弃这个整数。这种思路相当于只要排序k个整数，因此时间复杂可以降到O(n+nlogk)。通常情况下k要远小于n，所以这种办法要优于前面的思路。

这是我能够想出来的最快的解决方案。不过从给面试官留下更好印象的角度出发，我们可以进一步把代码写得更漂亮一些。从上面的分析，当长度为k的数组已经满了之后，如果需要替换，每次替换的都是数组中的最大值。在常用的数据结构中，能够在O(1)时间里得到最大值的数据结构为最大堆。因此我们可以用堆（heap）来代替数组。

另外，自己重头开始写一个最大堆需要一定量的代码。我们现在不需要重新去发明车轮，因为前人早就发明出来了。同样，STL中的set和multiset为我们做了很好的堆的实现，我们可以拿过来用。既偷了懒，又给面试官留下熟悉STL的好印象，何乐而不为之？

参考代码：

#include <iostream> #include <vector> #include <set> using namespace std; typedef multiset<int,greater<int> > IntHeap; // 这里必须使用空格隔开两个相邻的>号，否则编译器会认为是输入>>符号 /// // find k least numbers in a vector /// void FindKLeastNumbers ( const vector<int>& data, // a vector of data IntHeap& leastNumbers, // k least numbers, output unsigned int k ) { leastNumbers.clear(); if(k == 0 || data.size() < k) return; vector<int>::const_iterator iter = data.begin(); for(; iter != data.end(); ++ iter) { // if less than k numbers was inserted into leastNumbers if((leastNumbers.size()) < k) leastNumbers.insert(*iter); // leastNumbers contains k numbers and it's full now else { // first number in leastNumbers is the greatest one IntHeap::iterator iterFirst = leastNumbers.begin(); // if is less than the previous greatest number if(*iter < *(leastNumbers.begin())) { // replace the previous greatest number leastNumbers.erase(iterFirst); leastNumbers.insert(*iter); } } } } int main() { vector<int> svec; for (int i = 0;i < 10; i ++) { svec.push_back(i); } IntHeap leastNumbers; FindKLeastNumbers(svec,leastNumbers,4); IntHeap::iterator iter = leastNumbers.begin(); for (; iter != leastNumbers.end(); iter ++) { cout<<*iter<<'/t'; } cout<<endl; return 0; } 

multiset

class template

<set>

Multiple-key set

Multisets are associative containers with the same properties as set containers, but allowing for multiple keys with equal values.

In their implementation in the C++ Standard Template Library, multiset containers take the same three template parameters as set containers:

1 2	template < class Key, class Compare = less<Key>, class Allocator = allocator<Key> > class multiset;

Where the template parameters have the following meanings:

• Key: Key type: type of the elements contained in the container. Each elements in a multiset is also its key.
• Compare: Comparison class: A class that takes two arguments of the same type as the container elements and returns a bool. The expression comp(a,b), where comp is an object of this class and a and b are elements of the container, shall return true if a is to be placed at an earlier position than b in a strict weak ordering operation. This can either be a class implementing a function call operator or a pointer to a function (see constructor for an example). This defaults to less<Key>, which returns the same as applying the less-than operator (a<b).
  The multiset object uses this expression to determine the position of the elements in the container. All elements in a multiset container are ordered following this rule at all times.
• Allocator: Type of the allocator object used to define the storage allocation model. By default, the allocator class template for type Key is used, which defines the simplest memory allocation model and is value-independent.