Find index of first occurrence when an unsorted array is sorted

Last Updated : 29 Aug, 2022

Given an unsorted array and a number x, find an index of first occurrence of x when we sort the array. If x is not present, print -1.

Examples:

Input : arr[] = {10, 30, 20, 50, 20}
           x = 20
Output : 1
Sorted array is {10, 20, 20, 30, 50}

Input : arr[] = {10, 30, 20, 50, 20}
           x = 60
Output : -1
60 is not present in array.

A simple solution is to first sort the array, then do binary search to find first occurrence.

Implementation:

C++

// C++ program to find index of first
// occurrence of x when array is sorted.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

int findFirst(int arr[], int n, int x)
{
    sort(arr, arr + n);

    // lower_bound returns iterator pointing to
    // first element that does not compare less
    // to x.
    int* ptr = lower_bound(arr, arr + n, x);

    // If x is not present return -1.
    return (*ptr != x) ? -1 : (ptr - arr);
}

int main()
{
    int x = 20, arr[] = { 10, 30, 20, 50, 20 };
    int n = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);
    cout << findFirst(arr, n, x);
    return 0;
}

Java

// Java program to find index of first
// occurrence of x when array is sorted.
import java.util.*;

class GFG {
    static int findFirst(int arr[], int n, int x)
    {
        Arrays.sort(arr);

        // lower_bound returns iterator pointing to
        // first element that does not compare less
        // to x.
        int ptr = lowerBound(arr, 0, n, x);

        // If x is not present return -1.
        return (arr[ptr] != x) ? -1 : (ptr);
    }

    static int lowerBound(int[] a, int low, int high,
                          int element)
    {
        while (low < high) {
            int middle = low + (high - low) / 2;
            if (element > a[middle])
                low = middle + 1;
            else
                high = middle;
        }
        return low;
    }

    // Driver Code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        int x = 20, arr[] = { 10, 30, 20, 50, 20 };
        int n = arr.length;
        System.out.println(findFirst(arr, n, x));
    }
}

// This code is contributed by 29AjayKumar

Python3

# Python3 program to find index of first
# occurrence of x when array is sorted.
import math


def findFirst(arr, n, x):
    arr.sort()

    # lower_bound returns iterator pointing to
    # first element that does not compare less
    # to x.
    ptr = lowerBound(arr, 0, n, x)

    # If x is not present return -1.
    return 1 if (ptr != x) else (ptr - arr)


def lowerBound(a, low, high, element):
    while(low < high):
        middle = low + (high - low) // 2
        if(element > a[middle]):
            low = middle + 1
        else:
            high = middle
    return low


# Driver Code
if __name__ == '__main__':
    x = 20
    arr = [10, 30, 20, 50, 20]
    n = len(arr)
    print(findFirst(arr, n, x))

# This code is contributed by Rajput-Ji

// C# program to find index of first
// occurrence of x when array is sorted.
using System;

class GFG {
    static int findFirst(int[] arr, int n, int x)
    {
        Array.Sort(arr);

        // lower_bound returns iterator pointing to
        // first element that does not compare less
        // to x.
        int ptr = lowerBound(arr, 0, n, x);

        // If x is not present return -1.
        return (arr[ptr] != x) ? -1 : (ptr);
    }

    static int lowerBound(int[] a, int low, int high,
                          int element)
    {
        while (low < high) {
            int middle = low + (high - low) / 2;
            if (element > a[middle])
                low = middle + 1;
            else
                high = middle;
        }
        return low;
    }

    // Driver Code
    static public void Main()
    {
        int x = 20;
        int[] arr = { 10, 30, 20, 50, 20 };
        int n = arr.Length;
        Console.Write(findFirst(arr, n, x));
    }
}

// This code is contributed by ajit.

PHP

<?php
//PHP program to find index of first 
// occurrence of x when array is sorted. 

function findFirst( $arr, $n, $x) 
{ 
    sort($arr); 

// lower_bound returns iterator pointing to 
// first element that does not compare less 
// to x. 
$ptr = floor($arr); 
    
// If x is not present return -1. 
return ($ptr != $x)? 1 : ($ptr - $arr); 
} 
//Code driven
    $x = 20;
    $arr = array(10, 30, 20, 50, 20); 
    $n = sizeof($arr)/sizeof($arr[0]); 
    echo findFirst($arr, $n, $x); 
    
#This code is contributed by Tushil.
?>

JavaScript

<script>

// Javascript program to find index of first
// occurrence of x when array is sorted.
function findFirst(arr, n, x)
{
    arr.sort();

    // lower_bound returns iterator pointing
    // to first element that does not compare 
    // less to x.
    let ptr = lowerBound(arr, 0, n, x);

    // If x is not present return -1.
    return (arr[ptr] != x) ? -1 : (ptr);
}

function lowerBound(a, low, high, element)
{
    while (low < high) 
    {
        let middle = low + parseInt(
                   (high - low) / 2, 10);
                    
        if (element > a[middle])
            low = middle + 1;
        else
            high = middle;
    }
    return low;
}

// Driver code
let x = 20;
let arr = [ 10, 30, 20, 50, 20 ];
let n = arr.length;

document.write(findFirst(arr, n, x));

// This code is contributed by mukesh07

</script>

Output

Complexity Analysis:

Time Complexity : O(n Log n)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)

An efficient solution is to simply count smaller elements than x.

Implementation:

C++

// C++ program to find index of first
// occurrence of x when array is sorted.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

int findFirst(int arr[], int n, int x)
{
    int count = 0;
    bool isX = false;
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        if (arr[i] == x)
            isX = true;
        else if (arr[i] < x)
            count++;
    }
    return (isX == false) ? -1 : count;
}

int main()
{
    int x = 20, arr[] = { 10, 30, 20, 50, 20 };
    int n = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);
    cout << findFirst(arr, n, x);
    return 0;
}

Java

// Java program to find index of first
// occurrence of x when array is sorted.

public class GFG {

    static int findFirst(int arr[], int n, int x)
    {
        int count = 0;
        boolean isX = false;
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
            if (arr[i] == x) {
                isX = true;
            }
            else if (arr[i] < x) {
                count++;
            }
        }
        return (isX == false) ? -1 : count;
    }

    // Driver main
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        int x = 20, arr[] = { 10, 30, 20, 50, 20 };
        int n = arr.length;
        System.out.println(findFirst(arr, n, x));
    }
}
/*This code is contributed by PrinciRaj1992*/

Python3

# Python 3 program to find index
# of first occurrence of x when
# array is sorted.


def findFirst(arr, n, x):

    count = 0
    isX = False
    for i in range(n):
        if (arr[i] == x):
            isX = True
        elif (arr[i] < x):
            count += 1

    return -1 if(isX == False) else count


# Driver Code
if __name__ == "__main__":
    x = 20
    arr = [10, 30, 20, 50, 20]
    n = len(arr)
    print(findFirst(arr, n, x))

# This code is contributed
# by ChitraNayal

// C# program to find index of first
// occurrence of x when array is sorted.
using System;

public class GFG {

    static int findFirst(int[] arr, int n, int x)
    {
        int count = 0;
        bool isX = false;
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
            if (arr[i] == x) {
                isX = true;
            }
            else if (arr[i] < x) {
                count++;
            }
        }
        return (isX == false) ? -1 : count;
    }

    // Driver main
    public static void Main()
    {
        int x = 20;
        int[] arr = { 10, 30, 20, 50, 20 };
        int n = arr.Length;
        Console.WriteLine(findFirst(arr, n, x));
    }
}
/*This code is contributed by PrinciRaj1992*/

PHP

<?php
// PHP program to find index of first 
// occurrence of x when array is sorted.

function findFirst($arr, $n, $x)
{
    $count = 0;
    $isX = false;
    for ($i = 0; $i < $n; $i++) 
    {
        if ($arr[$i] == $x)
            $isX = true;
        else if ($arr[$i] < $x)
            $count++;
    }
    return ($isX == false)? -1 : $count;
}

// Driver Code
$x = 20; 
$arr = array(10, 30, 20, 50, 20);
$n = sizeof($arr);
echo findFirst($arr, $n, $x);

// This code is contributed 
// by Akanksha Rai
?>

JavaScript

<script>

// JavaScript program to find index of first
// occurrence of x when array is sorted.
function findFirst(arr, n, x)
{
    var count = 0;
    var isX = false;
    
    for(var i = 0; i < n; i++) 
    {
        if (arr[i] == x)
        {
            isX = true;
        }
        else if (arr[i] < x) 
        {
            count++;
        }
    }
    return (isX == false) ? -1 : count;
}

// Driver Code
var x = 20, arr = [ 10, 30, 20, 50, 20 ];
var n = arr.length;

document.write(findFirst(arr, n, x));

// This code is contributed by Khushboogoyal499

</script>