Problems/Sort and Search/Kth Largest Integer
Sort and Search
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Kth Largest Integer

Finding the Xth largest element in a dataset is a common task with various applications. This problem assesses your ability to efficiently identify specific elements within unsorted data, testing your knowledge of sorting and searching algorithms.

arrayheapsortingpriority queuesearch

Problem Statement

Given an array of integers and an integer X, find the Xth largest element in the array. Note that you need to find the Xth largest element in sorted order, not the Xth distinct element.

Example 1
Input: [9, 3, 2, 4, 8], 2
Output: 8
The second largest element in the array [9, 3, 2, 4, 8] is 8.
Example 2
Input: [1, 15, 7, 9, 2, 5], 4
Output: 5
The fourth largest element in the array [1, 15, 7, 9, 2, 5] is 5.
Constraints
  • -1 <= length of array <= 10^5
  • -1 <= X <= length of array
  • --10^4 <= array elements <= 10^4
  • -The array may contain duplicate elements.

Brute Force Approach

The brute force approach is like manually sorting a deck of cards to find the Xth highest card. You would sort the entire array in descending order and then simply pick the element at the Xth position. This is straightforward but inefficient for large arrays.

TimeO(n log n)
SpaceO(1)

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