Kth Smallest Element Problem Statement

You are provided with an array of integers ARR of size N and an integer K. Your task is to find and return the K-th smallest value present in the array. All elements in the array are distinct.

Example:

Input:

T = 1
N = 5, K = 3
ARR = [3, 1, 4, 2, 5]

Output:

3

Explanation:

The sorted array is [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The 3rd smallest element is 3.

Constraints:

1

Question

Kth Smallest Element Problem Statement

You are provided with an array of integers ARR of size N and an integer K. Your task is to find and return the K-th smallest value present in the array. All elements in the array are distinct.

Example:

Input:

T = 1
N = 5, K = 3
ARR = [3, 1, 4, 2, 5]

Output:

Explanation:

The sorted array is [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The 3rd smallest element is 3.

Constraints:

1 <= T <= 100
1 <= N <= 10^4
1 <= K <= N
1 <= ARR[i] <= 10^9
Time limit: 1 sec.

Accepted Answer

Find the K-th smallest element in an array of distinct integers.

Sort the array and return the element at index K-1.
Use a min-heap to find the K-th smallest element efficiently.
Implement quickselect algorithm for optimal performance.