Finding Second Minimum element in an Array

How would you find minimum element in an array (non-repeating random numbers) ? Well, the solution is obvious, you pick first element and compare with the next and keep the lower of the two. Do this again by comparing result of first comparison with the third element. Repeat this process for the complete array and you got the answer. So, in all for n elements you would need to do n-1 comparisons to find the minimum element (Figure 1). 

Ok, the solution for finding smallest element was obvious. What if we need to find the next smallest element in an array? Well, one simple solution would be to compare the first two to select minimum and second minimum. Then pick the next element, compare with the minimum (selected in previous step) and replace it if the next element if lower. If not, compare with the second min and replace if necessary. Repeat this over the array and we have the second minimum. This algorithm would require 2n -3 comparisons (one comparison for first two elements + 2 comparisons for remaining elements of array. So 1 + 2 (n -2) = 2n -3.

What about finding 3rd minimum? The above logic would require 3 + 3(n-3) or 3n -6 comparisons.

The next question is can we do better than 2n -3 for finding second element (likewise for 3rd element and so forth). Can we not just sort the array and then just pick the 2nd value off the sorted array? Well, unfortunately that would not help either as best sorting algorithm will take nlog(n) time which is definitely more than what it would take for finding first log(n) elements using above method anyway. Well, the good news is that, yes there is a way to do better than 2n comparisons, and that is what this article is about - finding 2nd minimum in an array in efficient manner.

To solve problem of this nature we can take clue from a specialized form of problem set that can be best solved by technique called Dynamic Programming. My previous post about finding Critical Path is another example where dynamic programming technique was used.

Tournament Algorithm 

For solving problem of finding minimum element in an array, we will use what can be termed tournament method. Imagine a tennis tournament with 'n' players. Each player is paired with another player and the winner advance to next round and loser goes home. So, after first round the field is reduced to half. So, to find the winner of the tournament a total log(n) rounds will be played, where n is the field size (Figure 2). 

For our problem, in the first iteration we compare adjacent elements of the array and the lower of two values are selected to form another array half the size (half + 1 for odd number of elements). The process is repeated till we find the minimum value. The number of comparisons needed to find the minimum is still the same, as calculated below:

Total comparisons: n (1/2 + 1/4 + … ) = n

(This above is convergent geometric series which has generalized solution of form (a/1 – r), or for our case it would be ½ (1 – ½); which equates to value 1)

During the process of finding minimum value, the generated arrays (during successive) iterations are saved to form a two-dimensional array (recursion tree) with first row being the input array and subsequent rows as generated from above iterations to form reverse tree (top row with input array and the minimum element at the bottom – root element).

The reason why we went the tournament way (as opposed to serial comparison) is that we can leverage the reverse tree to find the second minimum value with log(n) comparisons (asymptotic), hence the solution represents marked improvements over 2n (ignoring constant) comparisons as required by trivial method.

Here is the logic to find second minimum value.

The logic is that at some point the minimum element (root element) must have knocked out the second minimum element. So, by backtracking from the root element (minimum) all the way to the top and checking all the adjacent elements to the root element (for each row) we can find the second minimum. The key point to note is that at any level (above root level), the adjacent elements can be obtained by the index of root element at this level. Therefore, you don't need to scan complete sub-array (of recursion tree at any level). The adjacent elements for n-1 level is obtained as follows:
Adjacent Left (n-1 level) : 2 * (root index for nth level)
Adjacent Right(n-1 level): 2 * (root index for nth level) + 1

Therefore, for each row of the recursion tree, you just need to perform two comparisons to find the root element index to obtain the adjacent elements of row above. Refer to Figure 3 below. One of the elements marked in green box must be second minimum.

So, how many comparisons we make using this method. Let’s calculate (ignoring constants): 

Comparisons for finding minimum: n 
Comparisons for finding 2nd minimum: log(n) 
Total: n + log(n)

Thus this method offers marked improvement over crude method.

Code 

Here is complete program:

view source print ?

001

/**

002	* Copyright (c) 2010-2020 Malkit S. Bhasin. All rights reserved.

003

*

004	* All source code and material on this Blog site is the copyright of Malkit S.

005	* Bhasin, 2010 and is protected under copyright laws of the United States. This

006	* source code may not be hosted on any other site without my express, prior,

007	* written permission. Application to host any of the material elsewhere can be

008	* made by contacting me at mbhasin at gmail dot com

009

*

010	* I have made every effort and taken great care in making sure that the source

011	* code and other content included on my web site is technically accurate, but I

012	* disclaim any and all responsibility for any loss, damage or destruction of

013	* data or any other property which may arise from relying on it. I will in no

014	* case be liable for any monetary damages arising from such loss, damage or

015	* destruction.

016

*

017	* I further grant you ("Licensee") a non-exclusive, royalty free, license to

018	* use, modify and redistribute this software in source and binary code form,

019	* provided that i) this copyright notice and license appear on all copies of

020	* the software;

021

*

022	* As with any code, ensure to test this code in a development environment

023	* before attempting to run it in production.

024

*

025	* @author Malkit S. Bhasin

026

*

027

*/

028	public class SecondMinimum {

029

030	public static int getSecondMinimumNonOptimized(int[] values) {

031	int min = -1, secondMin = -1;

032	int firstValue = values[0];

033	int secondValue = values[1];

034	if (firstValue < secondValue) {

035	min = firstValue;

036	secondMin = secondValue;

037

} else {

038	min = secondValue;

039	secondMin = firstValue;

040

}

041	int nextElement = -1;

042	for (int i = 2; i < values.length; i++) {

043	nextElement = values[i];

044	if (nextElement < min) {

045	secondMin = min;

046	min = nextElement;

047	} else if (nextElement < secondMin) {

048	secondMin = nextElement;

049

}

050

}

051	return secondMin;

052

}

053

054

/**

055	* Takes an input array and generated a two-dimensional array whose rows are

056	* generated by comparing adjacent elements and selecting minimum of two

057	* elements. Thus the output is inverse triangle (root at bottom)

058

*

059	* @param values

060

* @return

061

*/

062	public static int[][] getOutputTree(int[] values) {

063	Integer size = new Integer(values.length);

064	double treeDepth = Math.log(size.doubleValue()) / Math.log(2);

065	int intTreeDepth = getIntValue(Math.ceil(treeDepth)) + 1;

066	int[][] outputTree = new int[intTreeDepth][];

067

068	// first row is the input

069	outputTree[0] = values;

070	printRow(outputTree[0]);

071

072	int[] currentRow = values;

073	int[] nextRow = null;

074	for (int i = 1; i < intTreeDepth; i++) {

075	nextRow = getNextRow(currentRow);

076	outputTree[i] = nextRow;

077	currentRow = nextRow;

078	printRow(outputTree[i]);

079

}

080	return outputTree;

081

}

082

083

/**

084	* Compares adjacent elements (starting from index 0), and construct a new

085	* array with elements that are smaller of the adjacent elements.

086

*

087	* For even sized input, the resulting array is half the size, for odd size

088	* array, it is half + 1.

089

*

090	* @param values

091

* @return

092

*/

093	private static int[] getNextRow(int[] values) {

094	int rowSize = getNextRowSize(values);

095	int[] row = new int[rowSize];

096	int i = 0;

097	for (int j = 0; j < values.length; j++) {

098	if (j == (values.length - 1)) {

099	// this is the case where there are odd number of elements

100	// in the array. Hence the last loop will have only one element.

101	row[i++] = values[j];

102

} else {

103	row[i++] = getMin(values[j], values[++j]);

104

}

105

}

106	return row;

107

}

108

109

/**

110	* The logic for finding second minimum is as follows:

111

*

112	* Starting from root element (which is minimum element), find the lower of

113	* two adjacent element one row above. One of the two element must be root

114	* element. If the root element is left adjacent, the root index (for one

115	* row above) is two times the root index of any row. For right-adjacent, it

116	* is two times plus one. Select the other element (of two adjacent

117	* elements) as second minimum.

118

*

119	* Then move to one row further up and find elements adjacent to lowest

120	* element, again, one of the element must be root element (again, depending

121	* upon the fact that it is left or right adjacent, you can derive the root

122	* index for this row). Compare the other element with the second least

123	* selected in previous step, select the lower of the two and update the

124	* second lowest with this value.

125

*

126	* Continue this till you exhaust all the rows of the tree.

127

*

128	* @param values

129

* @return

130

*/

131	public static int getSecondMinimum(int[][] tree, int rootElement) {

132	int adjacentleft = -1, adjacentRight = -1;

133	int secondLeast = Integer.MAX_VALUE;

134	int rootIndex = 0;

135	int[] rowAbove = null;

136	// we have to scan in reverse order

137	for (int i = tree.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {

138	// one row above

139	rowAbove = tree[i - 1];

140	adjacentleft = rowAbove[rootIndex * 2];

141

142	// the root element could be the last element carried from row above

143	// because of odd number of elements in array, you need to do

144	// following

145	// check. if you don't, this case will blow {8, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2}

146	if (rowAbove.length >= ((rootIndex * 2 + 1) + 1)) {

147	adjacentRight = rowAbove[rootIndex * 2 + 1];

148

} else {

149	adjacentRight = -1;

150

}

151

152	// if there is no right adjacent value, then adjacent left must be

153

// root

154	// continue the loop.

155	if (adjacentRight == -1) {

156	// just checking for error condition

157	if (adjacentleft != rootElement) {

158	throw new RuntimeException("This is error condition. Since there "

159	+ " is only one adjacent element (last element), "

160	+ " it must be root element");

161

} else {

162	rootIndex = rootIndex * 2;

163

continue;

164

}

165

}

166

167	// one of the adjacent number must be root (min value).

168	// Get the other number and compared with second min so far

169	if (adjacentleft == rootElement && adjacentRight != rootElement) {

170	secondLeast = getMin(secondLeast, adjacentRight);

171	rootIndex = rootIndex * 2;

172	} else if (adjacentleft != rootElement && adjacentRight == rootElement) {

173	secondLeast = getMin(secondLeast, adjacentleft);

174	rootIndex = rootIndex * 2 + 1;

175

} else {

176	throw new RuntimeException("This is error condition. One of the adjacent "

177	+ "elements must be root element");

178

}

179

}

180

181	return secondLeast;

182

}

183

184

/**

185	* Returns minimum of two passed in values.

186

*

187	* @param num1

188	* @param num2

189

* @return

190

*/

191	private static int getMin(int num1, int num2) {

192	return Math.min(num1, num2);

193

}

194

195

/**

196	* following uses Math.ceil(double) to round to upper integer value..since

197	* this function takes double value, diving an int by double results in

198

* double.

199

*

200	* Another way of achieving this is for number x divided by n would be -

201	* (x+n-1)/n

202

*

203	* @param values

204

* @return

205

*/

206	private static int getNextRowSize(int[] values) {

207	double size = Math.ceil(values.length / 2.0);

208	return getIntValue(size);

209

}

210

211	private static int getIntValue(double value) {

212	return new Double(value).intValue();

213

}

214

215

/**

216	* Returns the root element of the two-dimensional array.

217

*

218	* @param tree

219

* @return

220

*/

221	public static int getRootElement(int[][] tree) {

222	int depth = tree.length;

223	return tree[depth - 1][0];

224

}

225

226	private static void printRow(int[] values) {

227	for (int i : values) {

228	// System.out.print(i + " ");

229

}

230	// System.out.println(" ");

231

}

232

233	public static void main(String args[]) {

234	int[] values = { 2, 4, 5, 3, 1, 8, 7, 10 };

235	// Get Second Minimum (Non-Optimized)

236	System.out.println("Second Minimum (using unoptimized algorithm): "

237	+ getSecondMinimumNonOptimized(values));

238

239	// Get Tree and obtain the Minimum Element in the array

240	int[][] outputTree = getOutputTree(values);

241	int min = getRootElement(outputTree);

242

243	// Get Second Minimum (Optimized)

244	System.out.println("Second Minimum (Using optimized algorithm): "

245	+ getSecondMinimum(outputTree, min));

246

}

247	}     转自：http://blogs.sun.com/malkit/entry/finding_2nd_minimum_element_in