Finding Minimum and Maximum in an Array Using Linear Search in Python

Problem Explanation

Given an array arr[], the task is to find the minimum and maximum elements in the array.

Example:

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

• Input: arr = [12, 3, 15, 7, 9]
  Output: [3, 15]

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Method Used: Linear Search

We traverse the array once and keep track of:

• The smallest value (minimum)
• The largest value (maximum)

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Why This Method?

• Time complexity is O(n) (only one traversal)
• Space complexity is O(1) (no extra space used)
• Simple and efficient for this problem

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Python Code

class Solution:
    def getMinMax(self, arr):
        minimum = arr[0]   
        maximum = arr[0]   

        for num in arr:    
            if num < minimum:
                minimum = num  
            if num > maximum:
                maximum = num   

        return [minimum, maximum]

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Code Explanation (Line by Line)

• class Solution:
  Defines the class as required by the platform.

• def getMinMax(self, arr):
  Function to find minimum and maximum values.

• minimum = arr[0]
  Initialize minimum with the first element.

• maximum = arr[0]
  Initialize maximum with the first element.

• for num in arr:
  Loop through each element in the array.

• if num < minimum:
  Check if current element is smaller than minimum.

• minimum = num
  Update minimum value.

• if num > maximum:
  Check if current element is greater than maximum.

• maximum = num
  Update maximum value.

• return [minimum, maximum]
  Return both values as a list.

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Output

Input:

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

Output:

[1, 8]

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Key Takeaway

A single traversal using Linear Search is enough to efficiently find both minimum and maximum values in an array.

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