你可以用O(n + kn) = O(n)(对于常数k)表示时间，用O(k)表示空间，通过跟踪你见过的最大的k个元素。

对于数组中的每个元素，您可以扫描k个最大的元素列表，并将最小的元素替换为更大的新元素。

Warren的优先级堆解决方案更简洁。

虽然不是很确定O(n)复杂度，但肯定在O(n)和nLog(n)之间。也肯定更接近于O(n)而不是nLog(n)函数是用Java编写的

public int quickSelect(ArrayList<Integer>list, int nthSmallest){
    //Choose random number in range of 0 to array length
    Random random =  new Random();
    //This will give random number which is not greater than length - 1
    int pivotIndex = random.nextInt(list.size() - 1); 

    int pivot = list.get(pivotIndex);

    ArrayList<Integer> smallerNumberList = new ArrayList<Integer>();
    ArrayList<Integer> greaterNumberList = new ArrayList<Integer>();

    //Split list into two. 
    //Value smaller than pivot should go to smallerNumberList
    //Value greater than pivot should go to greaterNumberList
    //Do nothing for value which is equal to pivot
    for(int i=0; i<list.size(); i++){
        if(list.get(i)<pivot){
            smallerNumberList.add(list.get(i));
        }
        else if(list.get(i)>pivot){
            greaterNumberList.add(list.get(i));
        }
        else{
            //Do nothing
        }
    }

    //If smallerNumberList size is greater than nthSmallest value, nthSmallest number must be in this list 
    if(nthSmallest < smallerNumberList.size()){
        return quickSelect(smallerNumberList, nthSmallest);
    }
    //If nthSmallest is greater than [ list.size() - greaterNumberList.size() ], nthSmallest number must be in this list
    //The step is bit tricky. If confusing, please see the above loop once again for clarification.
    else if(nthSmallest > (list.size() - greaterNumberList.size())){
        //nthSmallest will have to be changed here. [ list.size() - greaterNumberList.size() ] elements are already in 
        //smallerNumberList
        nthSmallest = nthSmallest - (list.size() - greaterNumberList.size());
        return quickSelect(greaterNumberList,nthSmallest);
    }
    else{
        return pivot;
    }
}

如果你想要一个真正的O(n)算法，而不是O(kn)或类似的算法，那么你应该使用快速选择(它基本上是快速排序，你会丢弃你不感兴趣的分区)。我的教授写了一篇很棒的文章，包括运行时分析:(参考)

QuickSelect算法可以快速找到包含n个元素的无序数组中的第k个最小元素。这是一个随机算法，所以我们计算最坏情况下的预期运行时间。

这是算法。

QuickSelect(A, k)
  let r be chosen uniformly at random in the range 1 to length(A)
  let pivot = A[r]
  let A1, A2 be new arrays
  # split into a pile A1 of small elements and A2 of big elements
  for i = 1 to n
    if A[i] < pivot then
      append A[i] to A1
    else if A[i] > pivot then
      append A[i] to A2
    else
      # do nothing
  end for
  if k <= length(A1):
    # it's in the pile of small elements
    return QuickSelect(A1, k)
  else if k > length(A) - length(A2)
    # it's in the pile of big elements
    return QuickSelect(A2, k - (length(A) - length(A2))
  else
    # it's equal to the pivot
    return pivot

这个算法的运行时间是多少?如果对手为我们抛硬币，我们可能会发现主元总是最大的元素，k总是1，给出的运行时间为

T(n) = Theta(n) + T(n-1) = Theta(n2)

但如果选择确实是随机的，则预期运行时间由

T(n) <= Theta(n) + (1/n) ∑i=1 to nT(max(i, n-i-1))

我们做了一个不完全合理的假设递归总是落在A1或A2中较大的那个。

让我们猜测对于某个a T(n) <= an，然后我们得到

T(n) 
 <= cn + (1/n) ∑i=1 to nT(max(i-1, n-i))
 = cn + (1/n) ∑i=1 to floor(n/2) T(n-i) + (1/n) ∑i=floor(n/2)+1 to n T(i)
 <= cn + 2 (1/n) ∑i=floor(n/2) to n T(i)
 <= cn + 2 (1/n) ∑i=floor(n/2) to n ai

现在我们要用加号右边这个可怕的和来吸收左边的cn。如果我们将其限定为2(1/n)∑i=n/2到n an，我们大致得到2(1/n)(n/2)an = an。但是这个太大了，没有多余的空间来挤进一个cn。让我们用等差级数公式展开和:

∑i=floor(n/2) to n i  
 = ∑i=1 to n i - ∑i=1 to floor(n/2) i  
 = n(n+1)/2 - floor(n/2)(floor(n/2)+1)/2  
 <= n2/2 - (n/4)2/2  
 = (15/32)n2

我们利用n“足够大”的优势，用更干净(更小)的n/4替换丑陋的地板(n/2)因子。现在我们可以继续

cn + 2 (1/n) ∑i=floor(n/2) to n ai,
 <= cn + (2a/n) (15/32) n2
 = n (c + (15/16)a)
 <= an

提供了> 16c。

得到T(n) = O(n)显然是(n)所以我们得到T(n) = (n)

中位数中位数算法的解释可以在这里找到n中第k大的整数: http://cs.indstate.edu/~spitla/presentation.pdf

c++中的实现如下:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

int findMedian(vector<int> vec){
//    Find median of a vector
    int median;
    size_t size = vec.size();
    median = vec[(size/2)];
    return median;
}

int findMedianOfMedians(vector<vector<int> > values){
    vector<int> medians;

    for (int i = 0; i < values.size(); i++) {
        int m = findMedian(values[i]);
        medians.push_back(m);
    }

    return findMedian(medians);
}

void selectionByMedianOfMedians(const vector<int> values, int k){
//    Divide the list into n/5 lists of 5 elements each
    vector<vector<int> > vec2D;

    int count = 0;
    while (count != values.size()) {
        int countRow = 0;
        vector<int> row;

        while ((countRow < 5) && (count < values.size())) {
            row.push_back(values[count]);
            count++;
            countRow++;
        }
        vec2D.push_back(row);
    }

    cout<<endl<<endl<<"Printing 2D vector : "<<endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < vec2D.size(); i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < vec2D[i].size(); j++) {
            cout<<vec2D[i][j]<<" ";
        }
        cout<<endl;
    }
    cout<<endl;

//    Calculating a new pivot for making splits
    int m = findMedianOfMedians(vec2D);
    cout<<"Median of medians is : "<<m<<endl;

//    Partition the list into unique elements larger than 'm' (call this sublist L1) and
//    those smaller them 'm' (call this sublist L2)
    vector<int> L1, L2;

    for (int i = 0; i < vec2D.size(); i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < vec2D[i].size(); j++) {
            if (vec2D[i][j] > m) {
                L1.push_back(vec2D[i][j]);
            }else if (vec2D[i][j] < m){
                L2.push_back(vec2D[i][j]);
            }
        }
    }

//    Checking the splits as per the new pivot 'm'
    cout<<endl<<"Printing L1 : "<<endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < L1.size(); i++) {
        cout<<L1[i]<<" ";
    }

    cout<<endl<<endl<<"Printing L2 : "<<endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < L2.size(); i++) {
        cout<<L2[i]<<" ";
    }

//    Recursive calls
    if ((k - 1) == L1.size()) {
        cout<<endl<<endl<<"Answer :"<<m;
    }else if (k <= L1.size()) {
        return selectionByMedianOfMedians(L1, k);
    }else if (k > (L1.size() + 1)){
        return selectionByMedianOfMedians(L2, k-((int)L1.size())-1);
    }

}

int main()
{
    int values[] = {2, 3, 5, 4, 1, 12, 11, 13, 16, 7, 8, 6, 10, 9, 17, 15, 19, 20, 18, 23, 21, 22, 25, 24, 14};

    vector<int> vec(values, values + 25);

    cout<<"The given array is : "<<endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < vec.size(); i++) {
        cout<<vec[i]<<" ";
    }

    selectionByMedianOfMedians(vec, 8);

    return 0;
}

这是一个Javascript实现。

如果您释放了不能修改数组的约束，则可以使用两个索引来标识“当前分区”(经典快速排序样式- http://www.nczonline.net/blog/2012/11/27/computer-science-in-javascript-quicksort/)来防止使用额外的内存。

function kthMax(a, k){
    var size = a.length;

    var pivot = a[ parseInt(Math.random()*size) ]; //Another choice could have been (size / 2) 

    //Create an array with all element lower than the pivot and an array with all element higher than the pivot
    var i, lowerArray = [], upperArray = [];
    for (i = 0; i  < size; i++){
        var current = a[i];

        if (current < pivot) {
            lowerArray.push(current);
        } else if (current > pivot) {
            upperArray.push(current);
        }
    }

    //Which one should I continue with?
    if(k <= upperArray.length) {
        //Upper
        return kthMax(upperArray, k);
    } else {
        var newK = k - (size - lowerArray.length);

        if (newK > 0) {
            ///Lower
            return kthMax(lowerArray, newK);
        } else {
            //None ... it's the current pivot!
            return pivot;
        }   
    }
}  

如果你想测试它的表现，你可以使用这个变量:

    function kthMax (a, k, logging) {
         var comparisonCount = 0; //Number of comparison that the algorithm uses
         var memoryCount = 0;     //Number of integers in memory that the algorithm uses
         var _log = logging;

         if(k < 0 || k >= a.length) {
            if (_log) console.log ("k is out of range"); 
            return false;
         }      

         function _kthmax(a, k){
             var size = a.length;
             var pivot = a[parseInt(Math.random()*size)];
             if(_log) console.log("Inputs:", a,  "size="+size, "k="+k, "pivot="+pivot);

             // This should never happen. Just a nice check in this exercise
             // if you are playing with the code to avoid never ending recursion            
             if(typeof pivot === "undefined") {
                 if (_log) console.log ("Ops..."); 
                 return false;
             }

             var i, lowerArray = [], upperArray = [];
             for (i = 0; i  < size; i++){
                 var current = a[i];
                 if (current < pivot) {
                     comparisonCount += 1;
                     memoryCount++;
                     lowerArray.push(current);
                 } else if (current > pivot) {
                     comparisonCount += 2;
                     memoryCount++;
                     upperArray.push(current);
                 }
             }
             if(_log) console.log("Pivoting:",lowerArray, "*"+pivot+"*", upperArray);

             if(k <= upperArray.length) {
                 comparisonCount += 1;
                 return _kthmax(upperArray, k);
             } else if (k > size - lowerArray.length) {
                 comparisonCount += 2;
                 return _kthmax(lowerArray, k - (size - lowerArray.length));
             } else {
                 comparisonCount += 2;
                 return pivot;
             }
     /* 
      * BTW, this is the logic for kthMin if we want to implement that... ;-)
      * 

             if(k <= lowerArray.length) {
                 return kthMin(lowerArray, k);
             } else if (k > size - upperArray.length) {
                 return kthMin(upperArray, k - (size - upperArray.length));
             } else 
                 return pivot;
     */            
         }

         var result = _kthmax(a, k);
         return {result: result, iterations: comparisonCount, memory: memoryCount};
     }

剩下的代码只是创建一些游乐场:

    function getRandomArray (n){
        var ar = [];
        for (var i = 0, l = n; i < l; i++) {
            ar.push(Math.round(Math.random() * l))
        }

        return ar;
    }

    //Create a random array of 50 numbers
    var ar = getRandomArray (50);   

现在给你做几次测试。 因为Math.random()每次都会产生不同的结果:

    kthMax(ar, 2, true);
    kthMax(ar, 2);
    kthMax(ar, 2);
    kthMax(ar, 2);
    kthMax(ar, 2);
    kthMax(ar, 2);
    kthMax(ar, 34, true);
    kthMax(ar, 34);
    kthMax(ar, 34);
    kthMax(ar, 34);
    kthMax(ar, 34);
    kthMax(ar, 34);

如果你测试它几次，你甚至可以看到经验的迭代次数，平均来说，O(n) ~=常数* n, k的值不会影响算法。

你可以在O(n)个时间和常数空间中找到第k个最小的元素。如果我们认为数组只用于整数。

方法是对数组值的范围进行二分搜索。如果min_value和max_value都在整数范围内，我们可以对该范围进行二分搜索。 我们可以写一个比较器函数，它会告诉我们是否有任何值是第k个最小值或小于第k个最小值或大于第k个最小值。 进行二分搜索，直到找到第k小的数

这是它的代码

类解决方案:

def _iskthsmallest(self, A, val, k):
    less_count, equal_count = 0, 0
    for i in range(len(A)):
        if A[i] == val: equal_count += 1
        if A[i] < val: less_count += 1

    if less_count >= k: return 1
    if less_count + equal_count < k: return -1
    return 0

def kthsmallest_binary(self, A, min_val, max_val, k):
    if min_val == max_val:
        return min_val
    mid = (min_val + max_val)/2
    iskthsmallest = self._iskthsmallest(A, mid, k)
    if iskthsmallest == 0: return mid
    if iskthsmallest > 0: return self.kthsmallest_binary(A, min_val, mid, k)
    return self.kthsmallest_binary(A, mid+1, max_val, k)

# @param A : tuple of integers
# @param B : integer
# @return an integer
def kthsmallest(self, A, k):
    if not A: return 0
    if k > len(A): return 0
    min_val, max_val = min(A), max(A)
    return self.kthsmallest_binary(A, min_val, max_val, k)