Find the first repeated element in an array by its index

Objective: Given an array of integers, find out the first repeated element. First repeated element means the element occurs atleast twice and has smallest index.

Input: An Array

Output: The first repeated element

Examples :

Array {1,1,3,4,6,7,9} first repeated Number : 1
Array {7,2,2,3,7} first repeated Number : 7
Array {5,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,4,4,5,3} first repeated Number : 5

Approach:

Naive Solution :

Use two for loops. Time Complexity O(N²).

Better Solution: Using HastSet, Time Complexity O(N).

• Take a variable say index = -1.
• Initialize a HashSet.
• Navigate the array from right to left(backwards) taking one element at a time
• if HashSet doesnt contain element, add it
• if HashSet contains then update the index with current index in navigation.
• At the end index will be updated by the element which is repeated and has the lowest index.

Complete Code:Run This Code

Output:

{1,2,5,7,5,3,10,2}
first repeated element by index is : 2