I need to design an algorithm that finds the k'th smallest element in unsorted array using function that called "MED3": This function finds the n/3 (floor) and 2n/3 (ceil) elements of the array if it was sorted (very similar to median, but instead of n/2 it returns those values).
I thought about kind of partition around those 2 values, and than to continue like QuickSelect, but the problem is that "MED3" doesn't return indices of the 2 values, only the values.
for example, if the array is: 1, 2, 10, 1, 7, 6, 3, 4, 4 it returns 2 (n/3 value) and 4 (2n/3 value).
I also thought to run over the array and to take all the values between 2 and 4 (for example, in the given array above) to new array and then use "MED3" again, but can be duplicates (if the array is 2, 2, 2, 2, ..., 2 I would take all the elements each time).
Any ideas? I must use "MED3". * MED3 is like a black box, it runs in linear time.
Thank you.
I think you're on the right track, but instead of taking 2 to 4, I'd suggest removing the first n/3 values that are <= MED3.floor() and the first n/3 values that are >= MED3.ceil(). That avoids issues with too many duplicates. If two passes/cycle aren't too expensive, you can remove all values < MED3.floor() + up to a total of n/3 values = MED3.floor() (do the same for ceil())
then repeat until you are at the k'th smallest target.