Count frequency of a given element in the array

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Given an integer array nums and an integer target, return the number of times target appears in the array.

Example 1

Input: nums = [2, 4, 2, 5, 2, 7], target = 2

Output: 3

Explanation: The target element 2 appears at index 0, index 2, and index 4. So, the frequency is 3.

Example 2

Input: nums = [10, 20, 30, 40], target = 50

Output: 0

Explanation: The target element 50 is not present in the array. So, the frequency is

Approach

Traverse the array and maintain a counter for the occurrences of target.

Whenever the current element equals target, increment the counter. After every element has been checked, the counter represents the required frequency.

Algorithm

  • Initialize count with 0, where it keeps track of how many times target has been found so far.

  • Traverse every element of nums so that no possible occurrence of target is missed.

  • Compare the current element with target. If both values are equal, increment count because one more occurrence has been found.

  • Return count after the complete array has been checked, as it now represents the total frequency of target.

Dry Run

Count Freq Dry Run  .png

Count Freq Dry Run .png

Solution

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
class Solution {
public:
int countFrequency(const vector<int>& nums, int target) {
// Stores the number of target occurrences found so far.
int count = 0;
for (int value : nums) {
// Only values equal to target contribute to its frequency.
if (value == target) {
count++;
}
}
return count;
}
};
int main() {
vector<int> nums = {2, 3, 2, 5, 2};
int target = 2;
Solution solution;
int answer = solution.countFrequency(nums, target);
cout << "Frequency of target: " << answer << endl;
return 0;
}

Complexity Analysis

Time Complexity: O(N), where N represents the number of elements in the array. Every element is compared with target once.

Space Complexity: O(1), because only the count variable requires auxiliary storage.

Interview follow-up Questions

The result is 0 because no matching element is found.

Data StructuresIntroduction to DSAArrays

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