Find the largest three elements in an array

Given an array with all distinct elements, find the largest three elements. Expected time complexity is O(n) and extra space is O(1).

Examples :

Input: arr[] = {10, 4, 3, 50, 23, 90}
Output: 90, 50, 23

Recommended: Please try your approach on {IDE} first, before moving on to the solution.

Below is algorithm:

1) Initialize the largest three elements as minus infinite.
    first = second = third = -∞

2) Iterate through all elements of array.
   a) Let current array element be x.
   b) If (x > first)
      {
          // This order of assignment is important
          third = second
          second = first
          first = x   
       }
   c)  Else if (x > second)
      {
          third = second
          second = x 
      }
   d)  Else if (x > third)
      {
          third = x  
      }

3) Print first, second and third.

Below is the implementation of above algorithm.

C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <limits.h> /* For INT_MIN */
 
/* Function to print three largest elements */
void print2largest(int arr[], int arr_size)
{
    int i, first, second, third;
 
    /* There should be atleast two elements */
    if (arr_size < 3)
    {
        printf(" Invalid Input ");
        return;
    }
 
    third = first = second = INT_MIN;
    for (i = 0; i < arr_size ; i ++)
    {
        /* If current element is smaller than first*/
        if (arr[i] > first)
        {
            third = second;
            second = first;
            first = arr[i];
        }
 
        /* If arr[i] is in between first and second then update second  */
        else if (arr[i] > second)
        {
            third = second;
            second = arr[i];
        }
 
        else if (arr[i] > third)
            third = arr[i];
    }
 
    printf("Three largest elements are %d %d %d\n", first, second, third);
}
 
 
/* Driver program to test above function */
int main()
{
    int arr[] = {12, 13, 1, 10, 34, 1};
    int n = sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]);
    print2largest(arr, n);
    return 0;
}

Java

// Java code to find largest three elements
// in an array

class PrintLargest
{
    /* Function to print three largest elements */
    static void print2largest(int arr[], int arr_size)
    {
        int i, first, second, third;
  
        /* There should be atleast two elements */
        if (arr_size < 3)
        {
            System.out.print(" Invalid Input ");
            return;
        }
      
        third = first = second = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
        for (i = 0; i < arr_size ; i ++)
        {
            /* If current element is smaller than
            first*/
            if (arr[i] > first)
            {
                third = second;
                second = first;
                first = arr[i];
            }
      
            /* If arr[i] is in between first and
            second then update second  */
            else if (arr[i] > second)
            {
                third = second;
                second = arr[i];
            }
      
            else if (arr[i] > third)
                third = arr[i];
        }
      
        System.out.println("Three largest elements are " +
                       first + " " + second + " " + third);
    }

    /* Driver program to test above function*/
    public static void main (String[] args)
    {
        int arr[] = {12, 13, 1, 10, 34, 1};
        int n = arr.length;
        print2largest(arr, n);
    }
}
/*This code is contributed by Prakriti Gupta*/

Python3

# Python3 code to find largest three
# elements in an array
import sys

# Function to print three largest 
# elements 
def print2largest(arr, arr_size):

    # There should be atleast two
    # elements 
    if (arr_size < 3):
    
        print(" Invalid Input ")
        return
    
    third = first = second = -sys.maxsize
    
    for i in range(0, arr_size):
    
        # If current element is smaller
        # than first
        if (arr[i] > first):
        
            third = second
            second = first
            first = arr[i]
        

        # If arr[i] is in between first
        # and second then update second 
        elif (arr[i] > second):
        
            third = second
            second = arr[i]
        
        elif (arr[i] > third):
            third = arr[i]
    
    print("Three largest elements are",
                  first, second, third)

# Driver program to test above function 
arr = [12, 13, 1, 10, 34, 1]
n = len(arr)
print2largest(arr, n)

# This code is contributed by Smitha Dinesh Semwal

C#

// C# code to find largest 
// three elements in an array
using System;

class PrintLargest
{
    
    // Function to print three 
    // largest elements
    static void print2largest(int[] arr,
                              int arr_size)
    {
        int i, first, second, third;
    
        // There should be atleast two elements
        if (arr_size < 3)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Invalid Input");
            return;
        }
        
        third = first = second = 000;
        for (i = 0; i < arr_size ; i ++)
        {
            // If current element is 
            // smaller than first
            if (arr[i] > first)
            {
                third = second;
                second = first;
                first = arr[i];
            }
        
            // If arr[i] is in between first
            // and second then update second
            else if (arr[i] > second)
            {
                third = second;
                second = arr[i];
            }
        
            else if (arr[i] > third)
                third = arr[i];
        }
        
        Console.WriteLine("Three largest elements are " +
                           first + " " + second +
                           " " + third);
    }

    // Driver code
    public static void Main ()
    {
        int[] arr = new int[] {12, 13, 1, 10, 34, 1};
        int n = arr.Length;
        print2largest(arr, n);
    }
}

// This code is contributed by KRV.

PHP

<?php
// PHP code to find largest 
// three elements in an array

// Function to print 
// three largest elements
function print2largest($arr, $arr_size)
{
    $i; $first; $second; $third;

    // There should be atleast
    // two elements 
    if ($arr_size < 3)
    {
        echo " Invalid Input ";
        return;
    }

    $third = $first = $second = PHP_INT_MIN;
    for ($i = 0; $i < $arr_size ; $i ++)
    {
        // If current element is
        // smaller than first
        if ($arr[$i] > $first)
        {
            $third = $second;
            $second = $first;
            $first = $arr[$i];
        }

        // If arr[i] is in between first 
        // and second then update second 
        else if ($arr[$i] > $second)
        {
            $third = $second;
            $second = $arr[$i];
        }

        else if ($arr[$i] > $third)
            $third = $arr[$i];
    }

    echo "Three largest elements are ", 
       $first," ", $second," ", $third;
}


// Driver Code
$arr = array(12, 13, 1, 
             10, 34, 1);
$n = count($arr);
print2largest($arr, $n);

// This code is contributed by anuj_67.
?>

Output :