Finding the $k^{th}$ smallest element of an array (efficiently) may seem a little tricky at first; however, it can easily be found [using a min-heap](https://www.educative.io/shoteditor/4802548131168256/preview) or by sorting the array.

## Algorithm

The following steps are involved in finding the $k^{th}$ smallest element using sorting.

1. Sort the given array in ascending order using a sorting algorithm like [merge sort](https://www.educative.io/shoteditor/5704228033003520/preview), [bubble sort](https://www.educative.io/shoteditor/6411929637617664/preview), or [heap sort](https://www.educative.io/shoteditor/6483257468125184/preview).

2. Return the element at index $k - 1$ in the sorted array.

The illustration below further explains this concept:



## Implementation

The following code snippet implements the above algorithm in C++:

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

int main() {
  int arr[] = {10, 1, 0, 8, 7, 2};
  int size = sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]);
  // Sorting the array
  sort(arr, arr + size);
  // Finding the third smallest element in the array
  cout << "The third smallest element in the array is: "<<
  arr[2]<<endl;
  return 0;
}

Find the kth smallest element from an array using sorting

Algorithm

Implementation