Question

Using PYTHON:

(Find the index of the smallest element) Write a function that returns the index of the smallest element in a list of integers. If the number of such elements is greater than 1, return the smallest index. Use the following header:

def indexOfSmallestElement(lst):

Write a test program that prompts the user to enter a list of numbers, invokes this function to return the index of the smallest element, and displays the index.

PLEASE USE LISTS!

Answer 1

Here is the python code for the above task. Please refer to the comments for stepwise explanations.

# function to return index of smallest element

def indexOfSmallestElement(lst):

   # let first element be the current smallest

   smallestIndex = 0

   smallestElement = lst[0]

   # traverse through the remaining list

   for i in range (1, len(lst)):

       # if element is smaller than current smallest

       if lst[i] < smallestElement:

           # update current smallest element and index

           smallestElement = lst[i]

           smallestIndex = i

   return smallestIndex

# code to test the above function

# input a list of integers

lst = list(map(int, input('Enter a list of numbers: ').split()))

# call function on the input list

smallestIndex = indexOfSmallestElement(lst)

# print smallest index

print('Smallest index is:', smallestIndex)

Code screenshot:

1 # function to return index of smallest element def indexOfSmallestElement(1st): # let first element be the current smallest smallestIndex = 0 smallestElement = lst[0] 2 3 4 5 6 7. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 # traverse through the remaining list for i in range (1, len(1st)): # if element is smaller than current smallest if lst[i] < smallestElement: # update current smallest element and index smallestElement = lst[i] smallestIndex = i return smallest Index # code to test the above function # input a list of integers 1st = list(map(int, input('Enter a list of numbers: ').split())) # call function on the input list smallestIndex = indexOfSmallestElement(1st) 22 23 24 25 26 # print smallest index print('Smallest index is:', smallestIndex)

Sample IO:

Enter a list of numbers: 7 6 3 4 5 6 Smallest index is: 2

Enter a list of numbers: 1 2 3 4 5 Smallest index is: 0

Enter a list of numbers: 1 1 1 1 1 Smallest index is: 0