Example: Find Second Largest Element (Sorting) in C

// Find Second Largest Element (Sorting)
#include <stdio.h>

void sortArrayDescending(int arr[], int n) {
    for (int i = 0; i < n - 1; i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < n - i - 1; j++) {
            if (arr[j] < arr[j+1]) {
                // Swap elements
                int temp = arr[j];
                arr[j] = arr[j+1];
                arr[j+1] = temp;
            }
        }
    }
}

int main() {
    int arr[] = {12, 35, 1, 10, 34, 1};
    int n = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);

    if (n < 2) {
        printf("Array must have at least two elements.\n");
        return 0;
    }

    // Step 1: Sort the array in descending order
    sortArrayDescending(arr, n);

    // Step 2: Find the second distinct largest element
    int largest = arr[0];
    int secondLargest = -1; // Sentinel value indicating not found

    for (int i = 1; i < n; i++) {
        if (arr[i] < largest) { // Found an element smaller than the largest
            secondLargest = arr[i];
            break; // This is our second largest
        }
    }

    if (secondLargest != -1) {
        printf("The second largest element is: %d\n", secondLargest);
    } else {
        printf("No second distinct largest element found.\n");
    }

    return 0;
}