Question

Describe an algorithm that locates the first occurrence of the largest element in a finite list of integers, where the integers in the list are not necessarily distinct.

Short answer

The required algorithm is

procedure minimum(a1,a2,…,an: natural numbers with n≥1)



min:=a₁



Fori=2 to n



If ai<minthen min:=a_i



Returnmin

Step-by-step solution

Step 1

The algorithm is "minimum" and a list of natural numbers (a₁,a₂,…,a_n) procedure minimum (a₁,a₂,…,a_n: natural numbers with n≥1)

Step 2

Initially define the minimum as the first element in the list (if it is not the minimum, then this value will be adjusted later in the algorithm).



min:=a₁

Step 3

For the2^ndto nthelement in the list

Compare it with the current minimum in that step. If the value is smaller, then we reassign the value to the minimum.

Step 4

For i=2 to n



If ai<min then min:=a_i



Return the found minimum of the list.

return min

Step 5

Combining all these steps, then obtain the algorithm

procedure minimum (a1,a₂,…,an: natural numbers with n≥1)





min=a₁

For i=2 to n



If ai<minthen min:=a_i



return min