Find the Minimum element in a Sorted and Rotated Array using Linear Search

A simple solution is to use linear search to traverse the complete array and find a minimum. 

Follow the steps mentioned below to implement the idea:

  • Declare a variable (say min_ele) to store the minimum value and initialize it with arr[0].
  • Traverse the array from the start.
    • Update the minimum value (min_ele) if the current element is less than it.
  • Return the final value of min_ele as the required answer.

Below is the implementation of the above approach.

C++
// C++ code  to implement the approach

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

// Function to find the minimum value
int findMin(int arr[], int n)
{
    int min_ele = arr[0];

    // Traversing over array to
    // find minimum element
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        if (arr[i] < min_ele) {
            min_ele = arr[i];
        }
    }

    return min_ele;
}

// Driver code
int main()
{
    int arr[] = { 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4 };
    int N = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);

    // Function call
    cout << findMin(arr, N) << endl;
    return 0;
}
Java
/*package whatever //do not write package name here */
import java.io.*;

class GFG {

  // Function to find the minimum value
  static int findMin(int arr[], int n)
  {
    int min_ele = arr[0];

    // Traversing over array to
    // find minimum element
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
      if (arr[i] < min_ele) {
        min_ele = arr[i];
      }
    }

    return min_ele;
  }

  public static void main (String[] args) {
    int arr[] = { 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4 };
    int N = arr.length;
    System.out.println(findMin(arr, N));
  }
}

// This code is contributed by aadityaburujwale.
Python3
# python3 code  to implement the approach

def findMin(arr, N):
    
    min_ele = arr[0];

    # Traversing over array to
    # find minimum element
    for i in range(N) :
        if arr[i] < min_ele :
            min_ele = arr[i]

    return min_ele;

# Driver program
arr = [5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4]
N = len(arr)

print(findMin(arr,N))

# This code is contributed by aditya942003patil
C#
// C# code to implement above approach
using System;
 
class Minimum {
 
    static int findMin(int[] arr, int N)
    {
        int min_ele = arr[0];
        
        // Traversing over array to
        // find minimum element
        for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
            if (arr[i] < min_ele) {
                min_ele = arr[i];
            }
        }
        
        return min_ele;
    }
 
    // Driver Program
    public static void Main()
    {
        int[] arr = { 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4 };
        int N = arr.Length;
       
        Console.WriteLine(findMin(arr, N));
 
    }
}
 
// This code is contributed by aditya942003patil.
Javascript
// JS code to implement the approach

// Function to find the minimum value
function findMin(arr, n) {
    let min_ele = arr[0];

    // Traversing over array to
    // find minimum element
    for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        if (arr[i] < min_ele) {
            min_ele = arr[i];
        }
    }

    return min_ele;
}

// Driver code
let arr = [5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4];
let N = arr.length;

// Function call
console.log(findMin(arr, N));

// This code is contributed by adityamaharshi21.

Output
1


Time Complexity: O(N)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)

Find the Minimum element in a Sorted and Rotated Array

Given a sorted array arr[] (may be distinct or may contain duplicates) of size N that is rotated at some unknown point, the task is to find the minimum element in it. 

Examples: 

Input: arr[] = {5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4}
Output: 1
Explanation: 1 is the minimum element present in the array.

Input: arr[] = {1, 2, 3, 4}
Output: 1

Input: arr[] = {2, 1}
Output: 1

Recommended Practice
Minimum element in a sorted and rotated array
Try It!

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