C# || How To Find Minimum In Rotated Sorted Array Using C#

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The following is a module with functions which demonstrates how to find the minimum value in a rotated sorted array using C#.


1. Find Min – Problem Statement

Suppose an array of length n sorted in ascending order is rotated between 1 and n times. For example, the array nums = [0,1,2,4,5,6,7] might become:

  • [4,5,6,7,0,1,2] if it was rotated 4 times.
  • [0,1,2,4,5,6,7] if it was rotated 7 times.

Notice that rotating an array [a[0], a[1], a[2], …, a[n-1]] 1 time results in the array [a[n-1], a[0], a[1], a[2], …, a[n-2]].

Given the sorted rotated array nums of unique elements, return the minimum element of this array.

You must write an algorithm that runs in O(log n) time.

Example 1:


Input: nums = [3,4,5,1,2]
Output: 1
Explanation: The original array was [1,2,3,4,5] rotated 3 times.

Example 2:


Input: nums = [4,5,6,7,0,1,2]
Output: 0
Explanation: The original array was [0,1,2,4,5,6,7] and it was rotated 4 times.

Example 3:


Input: nums = [11,13,15,17]
Output: 11
Explanation: The original array was [11,13,15,17] and it was rotated 4 times.


2. Find Min – Solution

The following is a solution which demonstrates how to find the minimum value in a rotated sorted array.

QUICK NOTES:
The highlighted lines are sections of interest to look out for.

The code is heavily commented, so no further insight is necessary. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.

Once compiled, you should get this as your output for the example cases:


1
0
11

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