Maximum element in min heap in C++

Problem statement

Given a minimum heap find maximum element in that.

Example

If input heap is −

Then maximum element is 55

Algorithm

• In minimum heap parent node will be lesser than its children. Hence we can conclude that a non-leaf node cannot be the maximum.
• Search maximum element in the leaf nodes

Example

Let us now see an example −

 Live Demo

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
int getMaxElement(int *heap, int n) {
   int maxVal = heap[n / 2];
   for (int i = n / 2 + 1; i < n; ++i) {
      maxVal = max(maxVal, heap[i]);
   }
   return maxVal;
}
int main() {
   int heap[] = {15, 27, 22, 35, 29, 55, 48}; int n = sizeof(heap) / sizeof(heap[0]);
   cout << "Maximum element = " << getMaxElement(heap, n) << endl;
   return 0;
}

Output

Maximum element = 55