C Exercises: Find the minimum distance between two numbers in a given array

C Array: Exercise-84 with Solution

Write a program in C to find the minimum distance between two numbers in a given array.

Expected Output:
The given array is:
7 9 5 11 7 4 12 6 2 11
The minimum distance between 7 and 11 is: 1

The problem involves writing a C program to determine the minimum distance between two specified numbers in a given array. The program should iterate through the array to locate the positions of the two numbers and calculate the smallest difference between their indices. The expected output will display the array and the minimum distance between the two specified numbers.

Sample Solution:

C Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <limits.h>

// Function to find the minimum distance between two given numbers in an array
int findMinDistance(int *input, int n1, int n2, int length) {
    int pos_one = INT_MAX; // Initialize position of first number as maximum possible integer
    int pos_two = INT_MAX; // Initialize position of second number as maximum possible integer
    int d = length + 1; // Initialize minimum distance as length+1
    int newD;

    // Iterate through the array
    for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
        if (input[i] == n1) // If element is the first number
            pos_one = i; // Store its position
        else if (input[i] == n2) // If element is the second number
            pos_two = i; // Store its position

        // If both numbers are found
        if (pos_one < length && pos_two < length) {
            newD = abs(pos_one - pos_two); // Calculate distance between positions
            if (d > newD) // Update minimum distance
                d = newD;
        }
    }

    return d == length + 1 ? -1 : d; // Return minimum distance or -1 if no such pair found
}

int main() {
    int arr1[] = {7, 9, 5, 11, 7, 4, 12, 6, 2, 11};
    int n = sizeof(arr1) / sizeof(arr1[0]); // Calculate array size
    int p = 7; // First number
    int q = 11; // Second number
    int i;

    // Printing the original array
    printf("The given array is:  \n");
    for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        printf("%d  ", arr1[i]);
    }
    printf("\n");

    // Calculate and print the minimum distance between the given numbers
    printf("The minimum distance between %d and %d is:  %d\n", p, q, findMinDistance(arr1, p, q, n));
    return 0;
}

Output:

The given array is:  
7  9  5  11  7  4  12  6  2  11  
The minimum distance between 7 and 11 is:  1

Visual Presentation:

Flowchart:

C Programming Code Editor:

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