Second Smallest Element in an array in Java

Java program for finding the second smallest element in an array

June 1, 2022

Second Smallest Element in an array in Java

Here, in this page we will discuss the program to find the second smallest element in an array using java programming language. We are given with an array and need to print the second smallest element among them.

Various Method Discuss in this page are :

Method 1 : Using two loops
Method 2 : Using one loop

Method 1 :

Take a variable say smallest = Integer.MAX_VALUE
Run a loop over the entire array and check if (arr[i]<smallest)
Then set smallest = arr[i].
Declare another variable say sec_smallest = Integer.MAX_VALUE
Run a loop and check if arr[i] != smallest and arr[i] < sec_smallest
Then print(sec_smallest) after completing the iteration.

Method 1 : Code in Java

Run

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.*;

public class Main
{ 
   static int secSmallest(int arr[], int n)
   {
      // assigning first element as smallest temporarily
      int smallest = arr[0];

      // we find the smallest element here
      for (int i=0; i < n; i++){
         if(arr[i] < smallest)
            smallest = arr[i];
      }

     // temporarily assinging largest max value
     int sec_smallest = Integer.MAX_VALUE;


     // finding second smallest here
     for (int i=0; i < n; i++){
         if(arr[i] != smallest && arr[i] < sec_smallest)
           sec_smallest = arr[i];
     }

    return sec_smallest;

  }
  public static void main(String args[])
  {

      int arr[] = {12, 13, 1, 10, 34, 10};
      int n = arr.length;
      System.out.print(secSmallest(arr, n)); 
   }
}

Output :

Method 2 :

Declare two variables say first = INT_MAX and second = INT_MAX to hold the first and second smallest elements respectively.
Now, iterate over the entire array i.e, from index 0 to n-1
Inside the loop check if (arr[i]<first) then set second = first and first = arr[i].
Else check if(second > arr[i]) then set second = arr[i]
After complete iteration print the value of second.

Method 2 Code in Java

Run

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.*;

public class Main
{ 
   static int secSmallest(int arr[], int n)
   {
        int first = Integer.MAX_VALUE, second = Integer.MAX_VALUE;

        for (int i=0; i < n; i++){
            if(arr[i] < first){ second = first; first = arr[i]; } else if(second>arr[i])
           second = arr[i];
        }

        return second;

   }
   public static void main(String args[])
   {

      int arr[] = {12, 13, 1, 10, 34, 10};
      int n = arr.length;
      System.out.print(secSmallest(arr, n)); 
   }
}

Output :

2 comments on “Java program for finding the second smallest element in an array”

Vaibhav
public class Second {
static void fun() {
Scanner sc=new Scanner(System.in);
int arr[]=new int[20];
System.out.println(“enter the size of the array :”);
int n=sc.nextInt();
System.out.println(“enter the elements of the array :”);
for(int i=0;i<n;i++)
arr[i]=sc.nextInt();
int min, sm;
if(arr[0]<arr[1])
{
min=arr[0];
sm =arr[1];
}
else
{
min=arr[1];
sm =arr[0];
}
for(int i=2;i<n;i++)
{
if(arr[i]<min)
{
sm =min;
min=arr[i];
}
else if(arr[i]< sm)
{
sm =arr[i];
}
else
System.out.println();

}
System.out.println("the second min element is :"+ sm);

}
}

1

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Qwerty
thats dumbbbbbbb!!!!
it is an example of bubble sort.below is a modified version which will simplify your understanding.

package com.company;

class test {
public static int prep(int[] a, int total){
int temp;
for (int i = 0; i < total; i++)
{
for (int j = 0; j a[j+1])
{
temp = a[j];
a[j] = a[j+1];
a[j+1] = temp;
}
}
}
return a[1] ;//2nd element because index starts from 0
}
public static void main(String args[]){
int a[]={7,-3,9,0,2};
System.out.println(“Second smallest: “+prep(a,5));
}}

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