How do you find c program the maximum and minimum values from a given two dimension array?

Answer 1

To calculate the maximum value in an (unsorted) array, assume the first element is the largest element and store its value. If the next value is larger, store that value, otherwise continue to the next value. Repeat this process, updating the stored value each time you find a larger value. After a single pass of the array, the stored value holds the largest value.

Locating the minimum is exactly the same except you're looking for values less than the stored value.

The number of dimensions is immaterial. Simply treat the array as if it were one-dimensional. The following example assumes all arrays or of type int:

int largest (int* a, unsigned len) {

int m = a[0];

for (unsigned i=1; i<len; ++i) if (a[i]>m) m=a[i];

return m;

}

int smallest (int* a, unsigned len) {

int m = a[0];

for (unsigned i=1; i<len; ++i) if (a[i]<m) min=a[i];

return m;

}

Given these functions, we can determine the largest or smallest value in any array of type int, regardless of the number of dimensions:

int main () {

int min, max;

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

min = smallest (a, 5); // min = 1

max = largest (a, 5); // max = 5

int b[3][4] = {{1, 2, 3, 4}, {5, 4, 3, 2}, {0, 1, 2, 3}};

min = smallest ((int*) b, 3*4); // min = 0

max = largest ((int*) b, 3*4); // max = 5

return 0;

}

Note that the only real complication is that you must cast all multi-dimensional arrays to one-dimensional arrays. That is, for each dimension greater than 1, you add one level of indirection. E.g., a three-dimensional array of type int would be cast to int** while a four-dimensional array casts to int***.