🔍 Find Minimum and Maximum in an Array

Finding the minimum and maximum elements in an array is one of the most basic and important problems in programming.
It helps build a strong foundation for more advanced algorithms.

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📌 Problem Statement

Given an array arr[], your task is to find:

• The minimum element
• The maximum element

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🔍 Examples

Example 1:

Input:  [1, 4, 3, 5, 8, 6]
Output: [1, 8]

Example 2:

Input:  [12, 3, 15, 7, 9]
Output: [3, 15]

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🧠 Concept

We traverse the array once and keep track of:

• min_val → smallest value found so far
• max_val → largest value found so far

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🔄 Approach: Single Traversal (Efficient)

Step-by-Step:

1. Initialize:

• min_val = arr[0]

• max_val = arr[0]

  1. Traverse the array from index 1 to end
  2. For each element:

• If element < min_val → update min_val

• If element > max_val → update max_val

  1. Return [min_val, max_val]

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💻 Python Code

def find_min_max(arr):
    min_val = arr[0]
    max_val = arr[0]

    for i in range(1, len(arr)):
        if arr[i] < min_val:
            min_val = arr[i]
        if arr[i] > max_val:
            max_val = arr[i]

    return [min_val, max_val]

# Example
print(find_min_max([1, 4, 3, 5, 8, 6]))

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🧾 Dry Run (Step-by-Step)

For:

arr = [1, 4, 3, 5, 8, 6]

Step	Element	Min	Max
Start	1	1	1
1	4	1	4
2	3	1	4
3	5	1	5
4	8	1	8
5	6	1	8

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⚡ Time and Space Complexity

• Time Complexity: O(n) → we traverse once
• Space Complexity: O(1) → no extra space used

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🔁 Alternative (Python Built-in)

arr = [1, 4, 3, 5, 8, 6]
print([min(arr), max(arr)])

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🧩 Where Is This Used?

• Data analysis
• Searching algorithms
• Competitive programming
• Interview questions

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🏁 Conclusion

Finding the minimum and maximum in an array is a simple yet essential problem.
The optimal solution uses a single traversal, making it efficient and easy to implement.