Kth Smallest Element in an Array

My Thought Process (Java DSA) When I came across this problem, it initially looked slightly complex. Instead of directly writing code, I tried to understand what “kth smallest” actually means. Problem Statement We are given: An array of integers arr[] An integer k The task is to find the kth smallest element in the array. Initial Thinking Let’s take an example: arr = [10, 5, 4, 3, 48, 6, 2, 33, 53, 10] k = 4 If I arrange the array in sorted order: [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 10, 33, 48, 53] Now the 4th smallest element becomes: 5 Key Observation The term “kth smallest” directly relates to sorted order. So one straightforward approach is: Sort the array Return the element at index k - 1 Approach Sort the array Access the element at index k - 1 Return the result HOW it Runs arr = [7, 10, 4, 3, 20, 15] k = 3 Sorted → [3, 4, 7, 10, 15, 20] Answer → arr[2] = 7 Code (Java) import java.util.*; class Solution { public int kthSmallest(int[] arr, int k) { Arrays.sort(arr); return arr[k - 1]; } } Why Thi