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Function List:

C++ API

: nth_element (x, n)
: nth_element (x, n, dim)

Select the n-th smallest element of a vector, using the ordering defined by sort.

The result is equivalent to sort(x)(n).

n can also be a contiguous range, either ascending l:u or descending u:-1:l, in which case a range of elements is returned.

If x is an array, nth_element operates along the dimension defined by dim, or the first non-singleton dimension if dim is not given.

Programming Note: nth_element encapsulates the C++ standard library algorithms nth_element and partial_sort. On average, the complexity of the operation is O(M*log(K)), where M = size (x, dim) and K = length (n). This function is intended for cases where the ratio K/M is small; otherwise, it may be better to use sort.

See also: sort, min, max.

Package: octave