How to find the minimum and maximum element of a Vector using STL in C++?

Given a vector, find the minimum and maximum element of this vector using STL in C++. Example:

Input: {1, 45, 54, 71, 76, 12}
Output: min = 1, max = 76
Input: {10, 7, 5, 4, 6, 12}
Output: min = 4, max = 12

Approach:

• Min or Minimum element can be found with the help of *min_element() function provided in STL.
• Max or Maximum element can be found with the help of *max_element() function provided in STL.

Syntax:

*min_element (first_index, last_index);
*max_element (first_index, last_index);

Below is the implementation of the above approach: 

CPP

// C++ program to find the min and max element
// of Vector using *min_element() in STL

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
  // Get the vector
  vector<int> a = { 1, 45, 54, 71, 76, 12 };

  // Print the vector
  cout << "Vector: ";
  for (int i = 0; i < a.size(); i++)
    cout << a[i] << " ";
  cout << endl;

  // Find the min element
  cout << "\nMin Element = "
    << *min_element(a.begin(), a.end());

  // Find the max element
  cout << "\nMax Element = "
    << *max_element(a.begin(), a.end());
  return 0;
}

Output

Vector: 1 45 54 71 76 12 

Min Element = 1
Max Element = 76

Time Complexity: O(N)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)