Find Array Elements Which has at Least One Smaller Element in Java

An array is a linear data structure in which elements are stored in contiguous memory locations.

As per problem statement, we need to print all elements that have at least one smaller element. In simple terms we can say printing all elements of the array except the smallest one as the smallest one does not have any smaller element than this.

Let’s explore the article to see how it can be done by using Java programming language.

To Show You Some Instances

Instance-1

Suppose we have the below array
[10, 2, 3, -5, 99, 12, 0, -1]
Now all elements that have at least one smaller element are = 10, 2, 3, 99, 12, 0, -1

Instance-2

Suppose we have the below array
[55, 10, 29, 74, 12, 45, 6, 5, 269]
Now all elements that have at least one smaller element are = 55, 10, 29, 74, 12, 45, 6, 269

Instance-3

Suppose we have the below array
[556, 10, 259, 874, 123, 453, -96, -54, -2369]
Now all elements that have at least one smaller element are = 556, 10, 259, 874, 123, 453, -96, -54

Algorithm

Algorithm-1

• Step 1 − Store the array elements.

• Step 2 − Use a for loop to traverse through all array elements.

• Step 3 − Compare all elements to find the smallest one.

• Step 4 − Use a foreach loop and print all elements except the smallest one.

Algorithm-2

• Step 1 − Store the array elements.

• Step 2 − Sort the array in ascending order.

• Step 3 − Run a for loop to traverse from 2nd element to end and print all elements.

Syntax

To get the length of an array (number of elements in that array), there is an inbuilt property of array i.e length −

Below refers to the syntax of it −

array.length

Where ‘array’ refers to the array reference.

You can use the Arrays.sort() method to sort the array in ascending order.

Arrays.sort(array_name);

Multiple Approaches

We have provided the solution in different approaches.

• Without Using Sorting

• By Using Sorting

Let’s see the program along with its output one by one.

Approach-1: Without Using Sorting

In this approach, we use a for loop to find the smallest element and then print all the elements except that.

Example

public class Main {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      
      // The array elements
      int arr[] = { 10, 2, 3, 99, 12, 10 };
      System.out.println("The array elements are-");
      
      // Print the array elements
      for (int i : arr) {
         System.out.print(i + ", ");
      }
      
      // Initialize the first element as smallest and compare
      int smallest = arr[0];
      
      // Find the smallest element in the array
      for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++)
         if (arr[i] < smallest)
            smallest = arr[i];
      
      // Print array elements that have at least one smaller element
      System.out.println("\nThe array elements that have at least one smaller element are-");
      for (int i : arr) {
         if (i != smallest)
            System.out.print(i + ", ");
      }
   }
}

Output

The array elements are-
10, 2, 3, 99, 12, 10, 
The array elements that have at least one smaller element are-
10, 3, 99, 12, 10,

Approach-2: By Using Sorting

In this approach, we sort the array using Arrays.sort() method and print all elements except the first one.

Example

import java.util.Arrays;
public class Main {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
   
      // The array elements
      int arr[] = { 10, 2, 3, 99, 12, 10 };
      System.out.println("The array elements are-");
      
      // Print the array elements
      for (int i : arr) {
         System.out.print(i + ", ");
      }
      
      // Sort the array
      Arrays.sort(arr);
      
      // Print the array elements from the 2nd element
      System.out.println("\nThe array elements that have at least one smallerelement are-");
      for (int i = 1; i < arr.length; i++) {
         System.out.print(arr[i] + ", ");
      }
   }
}

Output

The array elements are-
10, 2, 3, 99, 12, 10, 
The array elements that have at least one smallerelement are-
3, 10, 10, 12, 99, 

In this article, we explored how to find all the array elements which have at least one smaller element by using Java programming language.