Question

The following algorithm finds the maximum element in a finite sequence.

1: procedure Mxx(a₁,a₂,⋯,aₙ : integers )
2. max:=a₁
​ 3. for i:=2 to n do
4. if max5. end if
6. end for
7. return max {max is the largest element\}
8. end procedure

Answer 1

The given algorithm finds the maximum element in a finite sequence by iterating through the elements and comparing them with a running 'max' value.

Step-by-step explanation:

The given algorithm finds the maximum element in a finite sequence. Here's how it works:

1. Initialize a variable 'max' with the first element of the sequence, a₁.
2. Iterate through the rest of the elements, starting from the second element (a₂), up to the last element (aₙ).
3. At each iteration, compare the current max value with the current element. If the current element is greater than the max value, update max with the current element.
4. After iterating through all the elements, 'max' will hold the maximum element of the sequence.
5. Return the value of 'max'.

For example, if we have a sequence (3, 7, 2, 9, 5), the algorithm would proceed as follows:

• max = 3
• max = 7
• max = 7
• max = 9
• max = 9

Finally, the algorithm would return 9 as the maximum element in the sequence.