I have made the quick select algorithm, which is to find the kth smallest number in an array. My problem is, it only works with an array without duplicates. If I have an array
arr = {1,2,2,3,5,5,8,2,4,8,8}
It will say that the third smallest number is 2, but it is actually 3.
I am stuck on what to do, here are my two methods quickSelect and Partition:
private int quickselect(int[] array, int leftIndex, int rightIndex, int kthSmallest) {
if(kthSmallest > array.length - 1){
System.out.print("Number does not exist. Please enter a number less than: ");
return array.length - 1;
}
if (leftIndex == rightIndex) {
return array[leftIndex];
}
int indexOfPivot = generatePivot(leftIndex, rightIndex);
indexOfPivot = quickSelectPartition(array, leftIndex, rightIndex, indexOfPivot);
if (kthSmallest == indexOfPivot) {
return array[kthSmallest];
} else if (kthSmallest < indexOfPivot) {
return quickselect(array, leftIndex, indexOfPivot - 1, kthSmallest);
} else {
return quickselect(array, indexOfPivot + 1, rightIndex, kthSmallest);
}
}
private int quickSelectPartition(int[] array, int left, int right, int pivotIndex) {
int pivotValue = array[pivotIndex];
swapIndexes(array, pivotIndex, right);
int firstPointer = left;
for(int secondPointer = left; secondPointer < right; secondPointer++) {
if(array[secondPointer] < pivotValue) {
swapIndexes(array, firstPointer, secondPointer);
firstPointer++;
}
}
swapIndexes(array, right, firstPointer);
return firstPointer;
}
If adding to the running time is acceptable, you could start by copying distinct elements into a new array:
private int[] getDistinct(int[] array) {
Set<Integer> distinct = new HashSet<>();
int endIdx = 0;
for (int element : array) {
if (distinct.add(element)) {
array[endIdx++] = element;
}
}
return Arrays.copyOfRange(array, 0, endIdx);
}
and then do quickselect on that:
int[] arr = new int[] {1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5, 8, 2, 4, 8, 8};
int kthSmallest = 6;
int[] distinctArray = getDistinct(arr);
int kthSmallestElement = quickselect(distinctArray, 0, distinctArray.length - 1, kthSmallest - 1);
System.out.println(kthSmallestElement);
Output:
8