Find the second lowest number in an array?

[sgtfarmer]

Actionscript 2, Flash 6

I just learned enough about arrays to find the lowest number in a group, and I'm pretty pumped.
But now how do I find the SECOND lowest?

I've found plenty on finding max and mins, but finding the runner up yields an informational desert!


This is what's getting me the lowest so far:

minValue = function (array) {
mn = array[0];
for (i=0; i<array.length; i++) {
if (array[i]<mn) {
mn = array[i];
}
}
return mn;
};

k = new Array();
k = [varible1,variable2,variable3,variable5,etc];
smallest_textbox = (minValue(k)); 
// and happily, the smallest variable is displayed in the textbox

Any ideas or suggestions on how to think about this problem?

I need the silver medal, #2, runner up!


+Farm

[lightspeed10]

Forget that, I'm talking rubbish.. that won't always work.

[Robb@exo]

This is just a thought, but maybe looking into the Array.sort(); method. Which would sort the indices based on value, and then select the second index[1], with [0] being the lowest.

[lightspeed10]

I looked at doing this, but array.sort() will sort the numbers based on the first character of element..

So if you have the array:

var Array = [0,9,7,2,1,500];

Sorting this array would give you:

0,1,2,500,7,9

as the 5 of 500 precedes 7.

[Robb@exo]

That's true but one can easily manipulate the function in order to achieve the desired results. A-la-like so,

var nArray:Array = [0, 9, 7, 2, 1, 500];
nArray.sort(Array.NUMERIC);
trace(nArray); // returns 0, 1, 2, 7, 9, 500

[sgtfarmer]

Whoa baby! This is so elegant... and it works! Double bonus!

Lightspeed, way to get the ball rolling, much appreciated. And Robb, thanks for the elbow grease!


Best,
Farm

[lightspeed10]

Awesome, I've been wondering how to do that!