DSA TrainerKth Largest Element in an Array
Given an integer array `nums` and an integer `k`, return the kth largest element in the array. It is the kth largest in sorted order, not the kth distinct element.
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Problem
Given an integer array nums and an integer k, return the kth largest element in the array.
Input
An integer array `nums` and an integer `k`.
Output
The kth largest element in the array.
Examples
Input: nums = [3,2,1,5,6,4], k = 2
Output: 5
Sorted descending: [6,5,4,3,2,1]. The 2nd largest is 5.
Input: nums = [3,2,3,1,2,4,5,5,6], k = 4
Output: 4
Sorted descending: [6,5,5,4,3,3,2,2,1]. The 4th largest is 4.
The brute-force approach
Sort the array in descending order. Return element at index k-1.
nums.sort(reverse=True)
return nums[k - 1]O(n log n) — you sort the entire array even though you only care about the top k elements. If k is small, that's a lot of wasted work.
Spotting the pattern
This is a Heap / Priority Queue problem. The key question to ask yourself:
If you keep a collection of exactly the k largest elements seen so far, what is the kth largest among them?
Answering that is where it clicks, and it's exactly what the guided walkthrough below builds with you: the pattern reasoning, a progressive hint ladder that never spoils the answer, a row-by-row dry run, the optimized solution, and an in-browser editor to run your code against real test cases.
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