Java Program for Sorting all array elements except one

Last Updated : 23 Mar, 2023

Given an array, a positive integer, sort the array in ascending order such that the element at index K in the unsorted array stays unmoved and all other elements are sorted.

Examples:

Input : arr[] = {10, 4, 11, 7, 6, 20}
            k = 2;
Output : arr[] = {4, 6, 11, 7, 10, 20}

Input : arr[] = {30, 20, 10}
         k = 0
Output : arr[] = {30, 10, 20}

A simple solution is to copy all elements except k-th of a given array to another array. Then sort the other array using a sorting algorithm. Finally, again copy the sorted array to the original array. While copying, skip k-th element.

Java

// Java code for the approach

import java.util.Arrays;

public class GFG {
      // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[] arr = {10, 4, 11, 7, 6, 20 };
        int k = 2;
          int n = arr.length;
      
          // Function Call
        sortExceptK(arr, k);
        
          // Print final array
          for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
            System.out.print(arr[i] + " ");
    }
    
    // Function to sort an array in ascending order
    // except for the element at index k
    public static void sortExceptK(int[] arr, int k) {
        int[] temp = new int[arr.length - 1];
        int index = 0;
        
        // Copy all elements except k-th to temp array
        for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
            if (i != k) {
                temp[index++] = arr[i];
            }
        }
        
        // Sort the temp array
        Arrays.sort(temp);
        
        // Copy the sorted array back to original array
        index = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
            if (i != k) {
                arr[i] = temp[index++];
            }
        }
    }
}

Output

4 6 11 7 10 20

Time Complexity: O(n*log₂n) as sorting takes n*log₂n time.

Space Complexity: O(n) as temp array has been created.

Below is an efficient solution.

Swap k-th element with the last element.
Sort all elements except the last.
For every element from (k+1)-th to last, move them one position ahead.1
Copy k-th element back to position k.

Java

// Java program to sort all elements except
// element at index k.
import java.util.Arrays;

class GFG {
    
    static int sortExceptK(int arr[], int k, int n)
    {
        
        // Move k-th element to end
        int temp = arr[k];
        arr[k] = arr[n-1];
        arr[n-1] = temp;
    
        // Sort all elements except last
        Arrays.sort(arr, 0, n-1);
    
        // Store last element (originally k-th)
        int last = arr[n-1];
    
        // Move all elements from k-th to one
        // position ahead.
        for (int i = n-1; i > k; i--)
        arr[i] = arr[i-1];
    
        // Restore k-th element
        arr[k] = last;
        return 0;
    }
    
    //Driver code
    public static void main (String[] args)
    {
        int a[] = {10, 4, 11, 7, 6, 20 };
        int k = 2;
        int n = a.length;
        
        sortExceptK(a, k, n);
        
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
            System.out.print(a[i] + " ");
    }
}

//This code is contributed by Anant Agarwal.