Find the Minimum element in a Sorted and Rotated Array

Given a sorted array arr[] (may be distinct or may contain duplicates) of size N that is rotated at some unknown point, the task is to find the minimum element in it.

Examples:

Input: arr[] = {5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4}
Output: 1
Explanation: 1 is the minimum element present in the array.

Input: arr[] = {1, 2, 3, 4}
Output: 1

Input: arr[] = {2, 1}
Output: 1

Follow the steps mentioned below to implement the idea:

• Declare a variable (say min_ele) to store the minimum value and initialize it with arr[0].
• Traverse the array from the start.
• Update the minimum value (min_ele) if the current element is less than it.
• Return the final value of min_ele as the required answer.

Below is the implementation of the above approach.

/*package whatever //do not write package name here */

import java.io.*;

class GFG {

// Function to find the minimum value

static int findMin(int arr[], int n)

{

int min_ele = arr[0];

// Traversing over array to

// find minimum element

for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {

if (arr[i] < min_ele) {

min_ele = arr[i];

}

}

return min_ele;

}

public static void main (String[] args) {

int arr[] = { 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4 };

int N = arr.length;

System.out.println(findMin(arr, N));

}

}

Output

1

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