Find Minimum in Rotated Sorted Array in Java: Explanation & Practice

Find the minimum element in rotated array

Problem summary

Given a rotated sorted array of unique elements, find the minimum element. The original array was sorted in ascending order.

Starter code

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[] nums = {3, 4, 5, 1, 2};
        
        // Minimum is at the rotation point
        // Binary search: if mid > right, min is in right half
        // Print: Min: 1
    }
}

Expected output and test cases

[3,4,5,1,2]
```
Min: 1
```
[4,5,6,7,0,1,2]
```
Min: 0
```
[1] → single element
```
Min: 1
```

Hints

If array not rotated (nums[left] < nums[right]), return nums[left]
If nums[mid] > nums[right], minimum is in right half
If nums[mid] <= nums[right], minimum is in left half (including mid)
When left == right, we found the minimum

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