C program to find the third largest element in an array using bubble sort

C PROGRAM TO FIND THE THIRD LARGEST ELEMENT USING BUBBLE SORT

Source Code:

#include<stdio.h>

int thirdlargest(int a[], int num)
{
    for(int i = 0; i < num - 1; i++)
    {
        for(int j = 0; j < num - i - 1; j++)
        {
            if(a[j] > a[j+1])
            {
                int temp = a[j];
                a[j] = a[j+1];
                a[j+1] = temp;
            }
        }
    }
    printf("Third largest element in the array: %d\n", a[num - 3]);
}

int main()
{
    int num;
    printf("Enter the size of the array:\n");
    scanf("%d", &num);
    
    if(num < 3)
    {
        printf("Invalid! Need at least 3 numbers to find the third largest element.\n");
        return 1;
    }
    
    int a[num];
    printf("Enter %d elements:\n", num);
    for(int i = 0; i < num; i++)
    {
        scanf("%d", &a[i]);
    }
    
    thirdlargest(a, num);
    return 0;
}
    

Explanation:

This program uses the bubble sort method to find the third largest number in an array:

• It first sorts the array in ascending order.
• After sorting, the third largest number is the element at position num - 3.
• It checks if the array has at least 3 elements before processing.

Sample Output:

Enter the size of the array:
6
Enter 6 elements:
10 25 33 50 8 40
Third largest element in the array: 33
    

Keywords:

third largest element in C, bubble sort example, array sorting in C, basic C programs with output, C programming questions