Find any one of the multiple repeating elements in read only array

Last Updated : 24 Mar, 2023

Given a read-only array of size ( n+1 ), find one of the multiple repeating elements in the array where the array contains integers only between 1 and n.
A read-only array means that the contents of the array can’t be modified.
Examples:

Input : n = 5          arr[] = {1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4}  Output : One of the numbers repeated in the array is: 1    Input : n = 10          arr[] = {10, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 9, 8, 5, 6, 4}  Output : One of the numbers repeated in the array is: 4 OR 5

Method 1: Since the size of the array is n+1 and elements range from 1 to n then it is confirmed that there will be at least one repeating element. A simple solution is to create a count array and store counts of all elements. As soon as we encounter an element with a count of more than 1, we return it.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

   // C++ program to find one of the repeating 
// elements in a read only array 
#include <bits/stdc++.h> 
using namespace std; 
  
// Function to find one of the repeating 
// elements 
int findRepeatingNumber(const int arr[], int n) 
{ 
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) { 
        int count = 0; 
        for (int j = 0; j < n; j++) { 
            if (arr[i] == arr[j]) 
                count++; 
        } 
        if (count > 1) 
            return arr[i]; 
    } 
    // If no repeating element exists 
    return -1; 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
int main() 
{ 
    // Read only array 
    const int arr[] = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4 }; 
  
    int n = 5; 
  
    cout << "One of the numbers repeated in"
            " the array is: "
         << findRepeatingNumber(arr, n) << endl; 
}
 
  

Java

   public class GFG { 
    // Java program to find one of the repeating 
    // elements in a read only array 
  
    // Function to find one of the repeating 
    // elements 
    public static int findRepeatingNumber(int[] arr, int n) 
    { 
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) { 
            int count = 0; 
            for (int j = 0; j < n; j++) { 
                if (arr[i] == arr[j]) { 
                    count++; 
                } 
            } 
            if (count > 1) { 
                return arr[i]; 
            } 
        } 
        // If no repeating element exists 
        return -1; 
    } 
  
    // Driver Code 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
        // Read only array 
        final int[] arr = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4 }; 
  
        int n = 5; 
  
        System.out.print("One of the numbers repeated in"
                         + " the array is: "); 
        System.out.print(findRepeatingNumber(arr, n)); 
        System.out.print("\n"); 
    } 
} 
// This code is contributed by Aarti_Rathi
 
  

Python3

   # Python 3program to find one of the repeating 
# elements in a read only array 
from math import sqrt 
  
# Function to find one of the repeating 
# elements 
def findRepeatingNumber(arr, n): 
      
    for i in arr: 
      count = 0; 
      for j in arr: 
        if i == j: 
          count=count+1
      if(count>1): 
        return i 
      
    # return -1 if no repeating element exists 
    return -1
  
# Driver Code 
if __name__ == '__main__': 
      
    # read only array, not to be modified 
    arr = [1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4] 
  
    # array of size 6(n + 1) having 
    # elements between 1 and 5 
    n = 5
  
    print("One of the numbers repeated in the array is:", 
                             findRepeatingNumber(arr, n)) 
      
# This code is contributed by Arpit Jain 
 
  

C#

   // C# program to find one of the repeating 
// elements in a read only array 
using System; 
  
public class GFG { 
  
  // Function to find one of the repeating 
  // elements 
  public static int findRepeatingNumber(int[] arr, int n) 
  { 
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) { 
      int count = 0; 
      for (int j = 0; j < n; j++) { 
        if (arr[i] == arr[j]) { 
          count++; 
        } 
      } 
      if (count > 1) { 
        return arr[i]; 
      } 
    } 
    // If no repeating element exists 
    return -1; 
  } 
  
  // Driver Code 
  public static void Main(String[] args) 
  { 
    // Read only array 
    int[] arr = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4 }; 
  
    int n = 5; 
  
    Console.Write("One of the numbers repeated in"
                  + " the array is: "); 
    Console.Write(findRepeatingNumber(arr, n)); 
    Console.Write("\n"); 
  } 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by Abhijeet Kumar(abhijeet19403) 
 
  

Javascript

   <script> 
// Javascript program to find one of the 
// repeating elements in a read only array. 
  
    // Function to find one of the repeating 
    // elements 
    function findRepeatingNumber(arr, n){ 
        for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) { 
            let count = 0; 
            for (let j = 0; j < n; j++) { 
                if (arr[i] == arr[j]) { 
                    count++; 
                } 
            } 
            if (count > 1) { 
                return arr[i]; 
            } 
        } 
        // If no repeating element exists 
        return -1; 
    } 
  
    const arr = [ 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4 ]; 
    let n = 5; 
      
    document.write("One of the numbers repeated in the array is: " + findRepeatingNumber(arr, n)); 
     
   // This code is contributed by lokeshmvs21. 
</script> 
 
  

Output

One of the numbers repeated in the array is: 1

Time Complexity: O(n²)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)

A space-optimized solution is to break the given range (from 1 to n) into blocks of size equal to sqrt(n). We maintain the count of elements belonging to each block for every block. Now as the size of an array is (n+1) and blocks are of size sqrt(n), then there will be one such block whose size will be more than sqrt(n). For the block whose count is greater than sqrt(n), we can use hashing for the elements of this block to find which element appears more than once.
Explanation:
The method described above works because of the following two reasons:

There would always be a block that has a count greater than sqrt(n) because of one extra element. Even when one extra element has been added it will occupy a position in one of the blocks only, making that block to be selected.
The selected block definitely has a repeating element. Consider that i^th block is selected. The size of the block is greater than sqrt(n) (Hence, it is selected) Maximum distinct elements in this block = sqrt(n). Thus, size can be greater than sqrt(n) only if there is a repeating element in range ( i*sqrt(n), (i+1)*sqrt(n) ].

Note: The last block formed may or may not have a range equal to sqrt(n). Thus, checking if this block has a repeating element will be different than other blocks. However, this difficulty can be overcome from the implementation point of view by initializing the selected block with the last block. This is safe because at least one block has to get selected.
Below is the step-by-step algorithm to solve this problem:

Divide the array into blocks of size sqrt(n).
Make a count array that stores the count of elements for each block.
Pick up the block which has a count of more than sqrt(n), setting the last block
as default.
For the elements belonging to the selected block, use the method of hashing(explained in the next step) to find the repeating element in that block.
We can create a hash array of key-value pairs, where the key is the element in the block and the value is the count of a number of times the given key is appearing. This can be easily implemented using unordered_map in C++ STL.

Below is the implementation of the above idea:

C++

   // C++ program to find one of the repeating 
// elements in a read only array 
#include <bits/stdc++.h> 
using namespace std; 
  
// Function to find one of the repeating 
// elements 
int findRepeatingNumber(const int arr[], int n) 
{ 
    // Size of blocks except the 
    // last block is sq 
    int sq = sqrt(n); 
  
    // Number of blocks to incorporate 1 to 
    // n values blocks are numbered from 0 
    // to range-1 (both included) 
    int range = (n / sq) + 1; 
  
    // Count array maintains the count for 
    // all blocks 
    int count[range] = {0}; 
  
    // Traversing the read only array and 
    // updating count 
    for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++) 
    { 
        // arr[i] belongs to block number 
        // (arr[i]-1)/sq i is considered 
        // to start from 0 
        count[(arr[i] - 1) / sq]++; 
    } 
  
    // The selected_block is set to last 
    // block by default. Rest of the blocks 
    // are checked 
    int selected_block = range - 1; 
    for (int i = 0; i < range - 1; i++) 
    { 
        if (count[i] > sq) 
        { 
            selected_block = i; 
            break; 
        } 
    } 
  
    // after finding block with size > sq 
    // method of hashing is used to find 
    // the element repeating in this block 
    unordered_map<int, int> m; 
    for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++) 
    { 
        // checks if the element belongs to the 
        // selected_block 
        if ( ((selected_block * sq) < arr[i]) && 
                (arr[i] <= ((selected_block + 1) * sq))) 
        { 
            m[arr[i]]++; 
  
            // repeating element found 
            if (m[arr[i]] > 1) 
                return arr[i]; 
        } 
    } 
  
    // return -1 if no repeating element exists 
    return -1; 
} 
  
// Driver Program 
int main() 
{ 
    // read only array, not to be modified 
    const int arr[] = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4 }; 
  
    // array of size 6(n + 1) having 
    // elements between 1 and 5 
    int n = 5; 
  
    cout << "One of the numbers repeated in"
         " the array is: "
         << findRepeatingNumber(arr, n) << endl; 
} 
 
  

Java

   // Java program to find one of the repeating  
// elements in a read only array  
import java.io.*; 
import java.util.*; 
  
class GFG 
{ 
  
    // Function to find one of the repeating  
    // elements  
    static int findRepeatingNumber(int[] arr, int n) 
    { 
        // Size of blocks except the  
        // last block is sq  
        int sq = (int) Math.sqrt(n); 
  
        // Number of blocks to incorporate 1 to  
        // n values blocks are numbered from 0  
        // to range-1 (both included)  
        int range = (n / sq) + 1; 
  
        // Count array maintains the count for  
        // all blocks  
        int[] count = new int[range]; 
  
        // Traversing the read only array and  
        // updating count  
        for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++) 
        { 
            // arr[i] belongs to block number  
            // (arr[i]-1)/sq i is considered  
            // to start from 0  
            count[(arr[i] - 1) / sq]++; 
        } 
  
        // The selected_block is set to last  
        // block by default. Rest of the blocks  
        // are checked  
        int selected_block = range - 1; 
        for (int i = 0; i < range - 1; i++)  
        {  
            if (count[i] > sq)  
            {  
                selected_block = i;  
                break;  
            }  
        } 
  
        // after finding block with size > sq  
        // method of hashing is used to find  
        // the element repeating in this block  
        HashMap<Integer, Integer> m = new HashMap<>(); 
        for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++) 
        { 
            // checks if the element belongs to the  
            // selected_block  
            if ( ((selected_block * sq) < arr[i]) &&  
                    (arr[i] <= ((selected_block + 1) * sq)))  
            {  
                m.put(arr[i], 1); 
  
                // repeating element found 
                if (m.get(arr[i]) == 1)  
                    return arr[i];  
            }  
        } 
  
        // return -1 if no repeating element exists  
        return -1;  
} 
  
// Driver code 
public static void main(String args[]) 
{ 
    // read only array, not to be modified  
    int[] arr = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4 }; 
  
    // array of size 6(n + 1) having  
    // elements between 1 and 5  
    int n = 5; 
  
    System.out.println("One of the numbers repeated in the array is: " +  
                                    findRepeatingNumber(arr, n)); 
} 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by rachana soma 
 
  

Python3

   # Python 3program to find one of the repeating 
# elements in a read only array 
from math import sqrt 
  
# Function to find one of the repeating 
# elements 
def findRepeatingNumber(arr, n): 
      
    # Size of blocks except the 
    # last block is sq 
    sq = sqrt(n) 
  
    # Number of blocks to incorporate 1 to 
    # n values blocks are numbered from 0 
    # to range-1 (both included) 
    range__= int((n / sq) + 1) 
  
    # Count array maintains the count for 
    # all blocks 
    count = [0 for i in range(range__)]  
  
    # Traversing the read only array and 
    # updating count 
    for i in range(0, n + 1, 1): 
          
        # arr[i] belongs to block number 
        # (arr[i]-1)/sq i is considered 
        # to start from 0 
        count[int((arr[i] - 1) / sq)] += 1
  
    # The selected_block is set to last 
    # block by default. Rest of the blocks 
    # are checked 
    selected_block = range__ - 1
    for i in range(0, range__ - 1, 1): 
        if (count[i] > sq): 
            selected_block = i 
            break
          
    # after finding block with size > sq 
    # method of hashing is used to find 
    # the element repeating in this block 
    m = {i:0 for i in range(n)} 
    for i in range(0, n + 1, 1): 
          
        # checks if the element belongs  
        # to the selected_block 
        if (((selected_block * sq) < arr[i]) and 
             (arr[i] <= ((selected_block + 1) * sq))): 
            m[arr[i]] += 1
  
            # repeating element found 
            if (m[arr[i]] > 1): 
                return arr[i] 
  
    # return -1 if no repeating element exists 
    return -1
  
# Driver Code 
if __name__ == '__main__': 
      
    # read only array, not to be modified 
    arr = [1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4] 
  
    # array of size 6(n + 1) having 
    # elements between 1 and 5 
    n = 5
  
    print("One of the numbers repeated in the array is:", 
                             findRepeatingNumber(arr, n)) 
      
# This code is contributed by 
# Sahil_shelangia 
 
  

C#

   // C# program to find one of the repeating  
// elements in a read only array  
using System; 
using System.Collections.Generic; 
  
class GFG 
{ 
  
    // Function to find one of the repeating  
    // elements  
    static int findRepeatingNumber(int[] arr, int n) 
    { 
        // Size of blocks except the  
        // last block is sq  
        int sq = (int) Math.Sqrt(n); 
  
        // Number of blocks to incorporate 1 to  
        // n values blocks are numbered from 0  
        // to range-1 (both included)  
        int range = (n / sq) + 1; 
  
        // Count array maintains the count for  
        // all blocks  
        int[] count = new int[range]; 
  
        // Traversing the read only array and  
        // updating count  
        for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++) 
        { 
            // arr[i] belongs to block number  
            // (arr[i]-1)/sq i is considered  
            // to start from 0  
            count[(arr[i] - 1) / sq]++; 
        } 
  
        // The selected_block is set to last  
        // block by default. Rest of the blocks  
        // are checked  
        int selected_block = range - 1; 
        for (int i = 0; i < range - 1; i++)  
        {  
            if (count[i] > sq)  
            {  
                selected_block = i;  
                break;  
            }  
        } 
  
        // after finding block with size > sq  
        // method of hashing is used to find  
        // the element repeating in this block  
        Dictionary<int,int> m = new Dictionary<int,int>(); 
        for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++) 
        { 
            // checks if the element belongs to the  
            // selected_block  
            if ( ((selected_block * sq) < arr[i]) &&  
                    (arr[i] <= ((selected_block + 1) * sq)))  
            {  
                m.Add(arr[i], 1); 
  
                // repeating element found 
                if (m[arr[i]] == 1)  
                    return arr[i];  
            }  
        } 
  
        // return -1 if no repeating element exists  
        return -1;  
    } 
  
// Driver code 
public static void Main(String []args) 
{ 
    // read only array, not to be modified  
    int[] arr = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4 }; 
  
    // array of size 6(n + 1) having  
    // elements between 1 and 5  
    int n = 5; 
  
    Console.WriteLine("One of the numbers repeated in the array is: " +  
                                    findRepeatingNumber(arr, n)); 
} 
} 
  
// This code contributed by Rajput-Ji 
 
  

Javascript

   <script> 
  
// JavaScript program to find one of the repeating 
// elements in a read only array 
  
  
// Function to find one of the repeating 
// elements 
function findRepeatingNumber(arr, n) { 
    // Size of blocks except the 
    // last block is sq 
    let sq = Math.sqrt(n); 
  
    // Number of blocks to incorporate 1 to 
    // n values blocks are numbered from 0 
    // to range-1 (both included) 
    let range = Math.floor(n / sq) + 1; 
  
    // Count array maintains the count for 
    // all blocks 
    let count = new Array(range).fill(0); 
  
    // Traversing the read only array and 
    // updating count 
    for (let i = 0; i <= n; i++) { 
        // arr[i] belongs to block number 
        // (arr[i]-1)/sq i is considered 
        // to start from 0 
        count[(Math.floor((arr[i] - 1) / sq))]++; 
    } 
  
    // The selected_block is set to last 
    // block by default. Rest of the blocks 
    // are checked 
    let selected_block = range - 1; 
    for (let i = 0; i < range - 1; i++) { 
        if (count[i] > sq) { 
            selected_block = i; 
            break; 
        } 
    } 
  
    // after finding block with size > sq 
    // method of hashing is used to find 
    // the element repeating in this block 
    let m = new Map(); 
    for (let i = 0; i <= n; i++) { 
        // checks if the element belongs to the 
        // selected_block 
        if (((selected_block * sq) < arr[i]) && 
            (arr[i] <= ((selected_block + 1) * sq))) { 
            m[arr[i]]++; 
  
            if (m.has(arr[i])) { 
                m.set(arr[i], m.get(arr[i]) + 1) 
            } else { 
                m.set(arr[i], 1) 
            } 
  
            // repeating element found 
            if (m.get(arr[i]) > 1) 
                return arr[i]; 
        } 
    } 
  
    // return -1 if no repeating element exists 
    return -1; 
} 
  
// Driver Program 
  
// read only array, not to be modified 
const arr = [1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4]; 
  
// array of size 6(n + 1) having 
// elements between 1 and 5 
let n = 5; 
  
document.write("One of the numbers repeated in"
    + " the array is: "
    + findRepeatingNumber(arr, n) + "<br>"); 
      
</script>
 
  

Output

One of the numbers repeated in the array is: 1

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

Find the two repeating elements in a given array

GeeksforGeeks

Improve

Article Tags :

Practice Tags :

Find any one of the multiple repeating elements in read only array

C++

Java

Python3

C#

Javascript

C++

Java

Python3

C#

Javascript

Similar Reads