Example: Maximum Element in Column - Direct Iteration

// Maximum Element in Column - Direct Iteration
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    // Step 1: Define the matrix and its dimensions
    int matrix[3][4] = {
        {10, 20, 15, 30},
        {25, 12, 18, 22},
        {14, 35, 28, 16}
    };
    int rows = 3;
    int cols = 4;
    int target_column = 1; // We want to find the max in column 1 (0-indexed, second column)

    // Step 2: Initialize max_element with the first element of the target column
    // It's good practice to initialize with the smallest possible integer
    // or the first element of the column itself to handle all cases correctly.
    int max_element = matrix[0][target_column]; 

    // Step 3: Iterate through the rows to find the maximum in the target column
    for (int i = 1; i < rows; i++) {
        if (matrix[i][target_column] > max_element) {
            max_element = matrix[i][target_column];
        }
    }

    // Step 4: Print the result
    printf("Matrix:\n");
    for (int i = 0; i < rows; i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < cols; j++) {
            printf("%4d", matrix[i][j]);
        }
        printf("\n");
    }
    printf("\nMaximum element in column %d is: %d\n", target_column, max_element);

    return 0;
}