Frequency of Elements in an Array

By
Shivam Gupta
-
40
Frequency of Elements in an Array
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Title: Frequency of Elements in an Array Using Java

Counting the frequency of elements in an array is a fundamental operation in programming. It allows us to understand the distribution of values and can be useful in various applications. In this Java programming guide, we will delve into how to implement a program that counts the frequency of each element in an array. We’ll provide detailed explanations, examples, and code snippets to help you grasp the concept.

Understanding the Problem

The task at hand is to take an array as input and determine how many times each distinct element appears in the array. For example, in the array [1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5], the element 1 appears twice, 2 appears twice, 3 appears once, 4 appears once, and 5 appears once. The output we seek is a mapping of each distinct element to its frequency in the array.

Approach

We can achieve this by using a HashMap in Java. The key-value pair in a HashMap will serve perfectly for storing the elements as keys and their corresponding frequencies as values. We’ll iterate through the array, checking each element. If the element is not present in the HashMap, we’ll add it with a frequency of 1. If it’s already in the HashMap, we’ll increment its frequency by 1.

Java Program Implementation:
Let’s dive into the Java program to count the frequency of elements in an array:

Java
import java.util.*;

public class FrequencyCounter {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[] array = {1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5};

        Map<Integer, Integer> frequencyMap = new HashMap<>();

        for (int num : array) {
            frequencyMap.put(num, frequencyMap.getOrDefault(num, 0) + 1);
        }

        // Displaying the frequency of each element
        for (Map.Entry<Integer, Integer> entry : frequencyMap.entrySet()) {
            System.out.println("Element " + entry.getKey() + " appears " + entry.getValue() + " times");
        }
    }
}

Explanation of the Program

We start by creating a HashMap called frequencyMap to store the elements and their frequencies.

  1. We then loop through each element of the input array.
  2. For each element, we check if it exists in the frequencyMap.
  • If it does, we increment its frequency by 1.
  • If it doesn’t, we add it to the frequencyMap with a frequency of 1 using getOrDefault.
  1. Finally, we display the contents of the frequencyMap, showing the frequency of each element.

Example:
Let’s consider the array [1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5].

  • The element 1 appears twice.
  • The element 2 appears twice.
  • The element 3 appears once.
  • The element 4 appears once.
  • The element 5 appears once.

Output

Java
Element 1 appears 2 times
Element 2 appears 2 times
Element 3 appears 1 time
Element 4 appears 1 time
Element 5 appears 1 time

Conclusion

Counting the frequency of elements in an array is a common programming task that can be efficiently handled using HashMaps in Java. This program allows us to quickly analyze the distribution of elements in an array and gain insights into the data. By understanding this concept and its implementation, you’ll be better equipped to solve similar problems in your Java programming journey.

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