Find three closest elements from given three sorted arrays in C++

Suppose we have three sorted arrays A, B and C, and three elements i, j and k from A, B and C respectively such that max(|A[i] – B[i]|, |B[j] – C[k]|, |C[k] – A[i]|) is minimized. So if A = [1, 4, 10], B = [2, 15, 20], and C = [10, 12], then output elements are 10, 15, 10, these three from A, B and C.

Suppose the size of A, B and C are p, q and r respectively. Now follow these steps to solve this −

• i := 0, j := 0 and k := 0
• Now do the following while i < p and j < q and k < r.
  • Find min and max of A[i], B[j] and C[k]
  • Calculate diff := max(X, Y, Z) - min(A[i], B[j], C[k])
  • If the result is less than current result, then change it to new result
  • Increment the pointer of the array which contains the minimum.

Example

#include <iostream> using namespace std; void getClosestElements(int A[], int B[], int C[], int p, int q, int r) {    int diff = INT_MAX;    int i_final =0, j_final = 0, k_final = 0;    int i=0,j=0,k=0;    while (i < p && j < q && k < r) {       int min_element = min(A[i], min(B[j], C[k]));       int max_element = max(A[i], max(B[j], C[k]));       if (max_element-min_element < diff){          i_final = i, j_final = j, k_final = k;          diff = max_element - min_element;       }       if (diff == 0)          break;       if (A[i] == min_element)          i++;       else if (B[j] == min_element)          j++;       else          k++;    }    cout << A[i_final] << " " << B[j_final] << " " << C[k_final]; } int main() {    int A[] = {1, 4, 10};    int B[] = {2, 15, 20};    int C[] = {10, 12};    int p = sizeof A / sizeof A[0];    int q = sizeof B / sizeof B[0];    int r = sizeof C / sizeof C[0];    cout << "Closest elements are: ";    getClosestElements(A, B, C, p, q, r); }

Output

Closest elements are: 10 15 10