复杂度为n的数组中寻找第k大的数

    public int kthLargestElement(int k, int[] nums) {
        if (nums == null || nums.length == 0 || k < 1 || k > nums.length){
            return -1;
        }
        return partition(nums, 0, nums.length - 1, nums.length - k);
    }
    
    private int partition(int[] nums, int start, int end, int k) {
        if (start >= end) {
            return nums[k];
        }
        
        int left = start, right = end;
        int pivot = nums[(start + end) / 2];
        
        while (left <= right) {
            while (left <= right && nums[left] < pivot) {
                left++;
            }
            while (left <= right && nums[right] > pivot) {
                right--;
            }
            if (left <= right) {
                swap(nums, left, right);
                left++;
                right--;
            }
        }
        
        if (k <= right) {
            return partition(nums, start, right, k);
        }
        if (k >= left) {
            return partition(nums, left, end, k);
        }
        return nums[k];
    }    
    
    private void swap(int[] nums, int i, int j) {
        int tmp = nums[i];
        nums[i] = nums[j];
        nums[j] = tmp;
    }

快速排序的思想解决：

    public int kthLargestElement(int n, int[] nums) {
        // write your code here
        int low = 0; int high = nums.length - 1;
        while(low <= high){
            int index = low - 1;
            for (int i = low;i < high ;i++ ){
                if(nums[i] > nums[high]){
                    swap(nums,i,++index);
                }
            } 
            swap(nums,++index,high);
            if(index == n - 1) return nums[index];
            if(index < n - 1)  low = index + 1;
            else high = index - 1;
        }
        return -1;
        
        
    }
    private void swap(int[] nums, int i, int j) {
        int tmp = nums[i];
        nums[i] = nums[j];
        nums[j] = tmp;
    }