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Code to calculate “median of five” in C#
Suppose I have five numbers in a list, say [3,2,1,4,5].
How do I find the median with 6 comparisons?
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dangerChihuahua007
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Is this homework? It smells like homework. If it is, tag it so. – Amadan Jan 10 '12 at 15:00
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2No, it isn't. I'm learning algorithms on my own :) I'm on winter break right now. – dangerChihuahua007 Jan 10 '12 at 15:01
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Why the specific number of comparisons? I don't know any sorting algorithm with O(n) performance. – GazTheDestroyer Jan 10 '12 at 15:04
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Specific for specifically 5-element list. It's a puzzle. – Amadan Jan 10 '12 at 15:05
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Wow, that question did it, thanks! Yeah, I think we can close this question if it overlaps with that question. I just wanted to know how to program it. – dangerChihuahua007 Jan 10 '12 at 15:11
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Take an optimal sorting network for N=5 which requires 9 comparisons and then prune the unneeded comparisons for outputs 0, 1, 3 and 4. There's an example of this which uses 6 comparisons in the answer to this question.
