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Kth Largest Element in an Array

Explore how to identify the kth largest element in an integer array by employing heaps and frequency analysis. Understand problem constraints and develop efficient algorithms to solve common coding interview challenges involving Top K elements.

Statement

Given an integer array, nums, and an integer, k, determine and return the kth largest element in the array.

Note: The kth largest element is defined with respect to the array’s sorted order (descending), and does not necessarily correspond to the kth unique value.

Constraints:

  • 11 \leq k \leq nums.length 103\leq 10^3

  • 104-10^4 \leq nums[i] 104\leq 10^4

Examples

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Understand the problem

Let’s take a moment to make sure you’ve correctly understood the problem. The quiz below helps you check if you’re solving the correct problem:

Kth Largest Element in an Array

1.

What is the 4th largest element in the following unsorted array?

[5, 12, 9, 0, 6, 7, 1, 8, 4, 9]

A.

9

B.

7

C.

8

D.

6


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Figure it out!

We have a game for you to play. Rearrange the logical building blocks to develop a clearer understanding of how to solve this problem.

Sequence - Vertical
Drag and drop the cards to rearrange them in the correct sequence.

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Try it yourself

Implement your solution in main.cpp in the following coding playground:

C++
usercode > main.cpp
int FindKthLargest(vector<int>& nums, int k)
{
// Replace this placeholder return statement with your code
return -1;
}
Kth Largest Element in an Array