function nthMax(arr, nth = 1, maxNumber = Infinity) {
      let large = -Infinity;
      for(e of arr) {
        if(e > large && e < maxNumber ) {
          large = e;
        } else if (maxNumber == large) {
          nth++;
        }
      }
      return nth==0 ? maxNumber: nthMax(arr, nth-1, large);
    }

    let array = [11,12,12,34,23,34];

    let secondlargest = nthMax(array, 1);

    console.log("Number:", secondlargest);




   

根据本文，在n个项目的列表中寻找第k个最大的项目，下面的算法在最坏的情况下将花费O(n)时间。

将数组分成n/5个列表，每个列表有5个元素。 求每个5个元素的子数组的中值。 递归地找到所有中位数的中位数，记作M 将数组划分为两个子数组第一个子数组包含大于M的元素，设这个子数组为a1，而其他子数组包含小于M的元素，设这个子数组为a2。 如果k <= |a1|，返回选择(a1,k)。 k−1 = |a1|，返回M。 如果k> |a1| + 1，返回选择(a2,k−a1−1)。

分析:如原文所述:

我们使用中位数将列表分成两部分(前一半， 如果k <= n/2，反之则为后半部分)。这个算法需要 对于某个常数c，递归第一级的时间cn/2 at 下一层(因为我们在大小为n/2的列表中递归)，cn/4在 第三层，以此类推。总时间为cn + cn/2 + cn/4 + ．．．． = 2cn = o(n)。

为什么分区大小是5而不是3?

如原文所述:

将列表除以5可以保证最坏情况下70−30的分割。至少 至少一半的中位数大于中位数的中位数 n/5块中的一半至少有3个元素，这就给出了a 3n/10的分割，这意味着另一个分区在最坏情况下是7n/10。 得到T(n) = T(n/5)+T(7n/10)+O(n)由于n/5+7n/10 < 1 最差情况运行时间isO(n)。

现在我尝试将上述算法实现为:

public static int findKthLargestUsingMedian(Integer[] array, int k) {
        // Step 1: Divide the list into n/5 lists of 5 element each.
        int noOfRequiredLists = (int) Math.ceil(array.length / 5.0);
        // Step 2: Find pivotal element aka median of medians.
        int medianOfMedian =  findMedianOfMedians(array, noOfRequiredLists);
        //Now we need two lists split using medianOfMedian as pivot. All elements in list listOne will be grater than medianOfMedian and listTwo will have elements lesser than medianOfMedian.
        List<Integer> listWithGreaterNumbers = new ArrayList<>(); // elements greater than medianOfMedian
        List<Integer> listWithSmallerNumbers = new ArrayList<>(); // elements less than medianOfMedian
        for (Integer element : array) {
            if (element < medianOfMedian) {
                listWithSmallerNumbers.add(element);
            } else if (element > medianOfMedian) {
                listWithGreaterNumbers.add(element);
            }
        }
        // Next step.
        if (k <= listWithGreaterNumbers.size()) return findKthLargestUsingMedian((Integer[]) listWithGreaterNumbers.toArray(new Integer[listWithGreaterNumbers.size()]), k);
        else if ((k - 1) == listWithGreaterNumbers.size()) return medianOfMedian;
        else if (k > (listWithGreaterNumbers.size() + 1)) return findKthLargestUsingMedian((Integer[]) listWithSmallerNumbers.toArray(new Integer[listWithSmallerNumbers.size()]), k-listWithGreaterNumbers.size()-1);
        return -1;
    }

    public static int findMedianOfMedians(Integer[] mainList, int noOfRequiredLists) {
        int[] medians = new int[noOfRequiredLists];
        for (int count = 0; count < noOfRequiredLists; count++) {
            int startOfPartialArray = 5 * count;
            int endOfPartialArray = startOfPartialArray + 5;
            Integer[] partialArray = Arrays.copyOfRange((Integer[]) mainList, startOfPartialArray, endOfPartialArray);
            // Step 2: Find median of each of these sublists.
            int medianIndex = partialArray.length/2;
            medians[count] = partialArray[medianIndex];
        }
        // Step 3: Find median of the medians.
        return medians[medians.length / 2];
    }

为了完成，另一种算法利用优先队列，花费时间O(nlogn)。

public static int findKthLargestUsingPriorityQueue(Integer[] nums, int k) {
        int p = 0;
        int numElements = nums.length;
        // create priority queue where all the elements of nums will be stored
        PriorityQueue<Integer> pq = new PriorityQueue<Integer>();

        // place all the elements of the array to this priority queue
        for (int n : nums) {
            pq.add(n);
        }

        // extract the kth largest element
        while (numElements - k + 1 > 0) {
            p = pq.poll();
            k++;
        }

        return p;
    }

这两个算法都可以被测试为:

public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        Integer[] numbers = new Integer[]{2, 3, 5, 4, 1, 12, 11, 13, 16, 7, 8, 6, 10, 9, 17, 15, 19, 20, 18, 23, 21, 22, 25, 24, 14};
        System.out.println(findKthLargestUsingMedian(numbers, 8));
        System.out.println(findKthLargestUsingPriorityQueue(numbers, 8));
    }

如预期输出为: 18 18

你可以用O(n + kn) = O(n)(对于常数k)表示时间，用O(k)表示空间，通过跟踪你见过的最大的k个元素。

对于数组中的每个元素，您可以扫描k个最大的元素列表，并将最小的元素替换为更大的新元素。

Warren的优先级堆解决方案更简洁。

Haskell的解决方案:

kthElem index list = sort list !! index

withShape ~[]     []     = []
withShape ~(x:xs) (y:ys) = x : withShape xs ys

sort []     = []
sort (x:xs) = (sort ls `withShape` ls) ++ [x] ++ (sort rs `withShape` rs)
  where
   ls = filter (<  x)
   rs = filter (>= x)

这通过使用withShape方法来实现中值解的中值，从而发现分区的大小，而无需实际计算分区大小。

转到这个链接的结尾:...........

http://www.geeksforgeeks.org/kth-smallestlargest-element-unsorted-array-set-3-worst-case-linear-time/

中位数中位数算法的解释可以在这里找到n中第k大的整数: http://cs.indstate.edu/~spitla/presentation.pdf

c++中的实现如下:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

int findMedian(vector<int> vec){
//    Find median of a vector
    int median;
    size_t size = vec.size();
    median = vec[(size/2)];
    return median;
}

int findMedianOfMedians(vector<vector<int> > values){
    vector<int> medians;

    for (int i = 0; i < values.size(); i++) {
        int m = findMedian(values[i]);
        medians.push_back(m);
    }

    return findMedian(medians);
}

void selectionByMedianOfMedians(const vector<int> values, int k){
//    Divide the list into n/5 lists of 5 elements each
    vector<vector<int> > vec2D;

    int count = 0;
    while (count != values.size()) {
        int countRow = 0;
        vector<int> row;

        while ((countRow < 5) && (count < values.size())) {
            row.push_back(values[count]);
            count++;
            countRow++;
        }
        vec2D.push_back(row);
    }

    cout<<endl<<endl<<"Printing 2D vector : "<<endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < vec2D.size(); i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < vec2D[i].size(); j++) {
            cout<<vec2D[i][j]<<" ";
        }
        cout<<endl;
    }
    cout<<endl;

//    Calculating a new pivot for making splits
    int m = findMedianOfMedians(vec2D);
    cout<<"Median of medians is : "<<m<<endl;

//    Partition the list into unique elements larger than 'm' (call this sublist L1) and
//    those smaller them 'm' (call this sublist L2)
    vector<int> L1, L2;

    for (int i = 0; i < vec2D.size(); i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < vec2D[i].size(); j++) {
            if (vec2D[i][j] > m) {
                L1.push_back(vec2D[i][j]);
            }else if (vec2D[i][j] < m){
                L2.push_back(vec2D[i][j]);
            }
        }
    }

//    Checking the splits as per the new pivot 'm'
    cout<<endl<<"Printing L1 : "<<endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < L1.size(); i++) {
        cout<<L1[i]<<" ";
    }

    cout<<endl<<endl<<"Printing L2 : "<<endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < L2.size(); i++) {
        cout<<L2[i]<<" ";
    }

//    Recursive calls
    if ((k - 1) == L1.size()) {
        cout<<endl<<endl<<"Answer :"<<m;
    }else if (k <= L1.size()) {
        return selectionByMedianOfMedians(L1, k);
    }else if (k > (L1.size() + 1)){
        return selectionByMedianOfMedians(L2, k-((int)L1.size())-1);
    }

}

int main()
{
    int values[] = {2, 3, 5, 4, 1, 12, 11, 13, 16, 7, 8, 6, 10, 9, 17, 15, 19, 20, 18, 23, 21, 22, 25, 24, 14};

    vector<int> vec(values, values + 25);

    cout<<"The given array is : "<<endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < vec.size(); i++) {
        cout<<vec[i]<<" ";
    }

    selectionByMedianOfMedians(vec, 8);

    return 0;
}