Question

Describe an algorithm that locates the last occurrence of the smallest element in a finite list of integers, where the integers in the list are not necessarily distinct. Write a C++ program to test your algorithm.

Answer 1

The algorithm iterates through a list of integers to find the last occurrence of the smallest element by tracking the smallest number and its position. A C++ program is provided to demonstrate the functionality of the algorithm.

Step-by-step explanation:

To locate the last occurrence of the smallest element in a list of integers, we can design an algorithm that iterates through the list, tracks the smallest number found, and updates the position every time it encounters the smallest number. Below is a sample C++ program that demonstrates this algorithm:
#include
#include
using namespace std;

int findLastSmallestIndex(const vector& nums) {
if(nums.empty()) return -1;
int smallest = nums[0];
int lastIndex = 0;
for(int i = 1; i < nums.size(); i++) {
if(nums[i] <= smallest) {
smallest = nums[i];
lastIndex = i;
}
}
return lastIndex;
}

int main() {
vector nums = {1, 2, 1, 3, 1};
int index = findLastSmallestIndex(nums);
cout << "Last occurrence of the smallest element is at index: " << index << endl;
return 0;
}

In this program, the findLastSmallestIndex function takes a vector of integers and returns the index of the last occurrence of the smallest element. The main function tests this algorithm with a sample list of integers. When you compile and run this program, it will print out the index where the last occurrence of the smallest element is found.