Getting the most frequent value of an array - arrays

Question

I have an Array of numbers and I want to know which number is most frequent in this array. The array sometimes has 5-6 integers, sometimes it has 10-12, sometimes even more - also the integers in the array can be different. So I need a function which can work with different lengths and values of an array.
One example:
myArray = [0, 0, 0, 1, 1]
Another example:
myArray = [4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6, 5, 5, 2]
Now I am searching for a function which gives out 0 (in the first example) as Integer, as it is 3 times in this array and the other integer in the array (1) is only 2 times in the array. Or for the second example it would be 4.
It seems pretty simple, but I cannot find a solution for this. Found some examples in the web, where the solution is to work with dictionaries or where the solution is simple - but I cannot use it with Swift 3 it seems...
However, I did not find a solution which works for me. Someone has an idea how to get the most frequent integer in an array of integers?

Answer 1

You can also use the NSCountedSet, here's the code
let nums = [4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6, 5, 5, 2]
let countedSet = NSCountedSet(array: nums)
let mostFrequent = countedSet.max { countedSet.count(for: $0) < countedSet.count(for: $1) }
Thanks to #Ben Morrow for the smart suggestions in the comments below.

Answer 2

let myArray = [4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6, 5, 5, 2]
// Create dictionary to map value to count
var counts = [Int: Int]()
// Count the values with using forEach
myArray.forEach { counts[$0] = (counts[$0] ?? 0) + 1 }
// Find the most frequent value and its count with max(by:)
if let (value, count) = counts.max(by: {$0.1 < $1.1}) {
print("\(value) occurs \(count) times")
}
Output:
4 occurs 4 times
Here it is as a function:
func mostFrequent(array: [Int]) -> (value: Int, count: Int)? {
var counts = [Int: Int]()
array.forEach { counts[$0] = (counts[$0] ?? 0) + 1 }
if let (value, count) = counts.max(by: {$0.1 < $1.1}) {
return (value, count)
}
// array was empty
return nil
}
if let result = mostFrequent(array: [1, 3, 2, 1, 1, 4, 5]) {
print("\(result.value) occurs \(result.count) times")
}
1 occurs 3 times
Update for Swift 4:
Swift 4 introduces reduce(into:_:) and default values for array look ups which enable you to generate the frequencies in one efficient line. And we might as well make it generic and have it work for any type that is Hashable:
func mostFrequent<T: Hashable>(array: [T]) -> (value: T, count: Int)? {
let counts = array.reduce(into: [:]) { $0[$1, default: 0] += 1 }
if let (value, count) = counts.max(by: { $0.1 < $1.1 }) {
return (value, count)
}
// array was empty
return nil
}
if let result = mostFrequent(array: ["a", "b", "a", "c", "a", "b"]) {
print("\(result.value) occurs \(result.count) times")
}
a occurs 3 times

Answer 3

The most frequent value is called the "mode". Here's a concise version:
let mode = myArray.reduce([Int: Int]()) {
var counts = $0
counts[$1] = ($0[$1] ?? 0) + 1
return counts
}.max { $0.1 < $1.1 }?.0
Whether that's considered "unreadable" or "elegant" depends on your feelings towards higher order functions. Nonetheless, here it is as a generic method in an extension on Array (so it'll work with any Hashable element type):
extension Array where Element: Hashable {
var mode: Element? {
return self.reduce([Element: Int]()) {
var counts = $0
counts[$1] = ($0[$1] ?? 0) + 1
return counts
}.max { $0.1 < $1.1 }?.0
}
}
Simply remove the .0 if you'd rather have a tuple that includes the count of the mode.

Answer 4

My take on it with Swift 5:
extension Collection {
/**
Returns the most frequent element in the collection.
*/
func mostFrequent() -> Self.Element?
where Self.Element: Hashable {
let counts = self.reduce(into: [:]) {
return $0[$1, default: 0] += 1
}
return counts.max(by: { $0.1 < $1.1 })?.key
}
}

Answer 5

I have tried the following code. It helps especially when the max count is applicable for 2 or more values.
var dictionary = arr.reduce(into: [:]) { counts, number in counts[number, default: 0] += 1}
var max = dictionary.values.max()!
dictionary = dictionary.filter{$0.1 == max}
mode = dictionary.keys.min()!

Answer 6

func mostR(num : [Int]) -> (number : Int , totalRepeated : Int)
{
var numberTofind : Int = 0
var total : Int = 0
var dic : [Int : Int] = [:]
for index in num
{
if let count = dic[index]
{
dic[index] = count + 1
}
else
{
dic[index] = 1
}
}
var high = dic.values.max()
for (index , count) in dic
{
if dic[index] == high
{
numberTofind = index
top.append(count)
total = count
}
}
return (numberTofind , total)
}
var array = [1,22,33,55,4,3,2,0,0,0,0]
var result = mostR(num : [1,22,3,2,43,2,11,0,0,0])
print("the number is (result.number) and its repeated by :(result.totalRepeated)" )

Answer 7

Here is an encapsulated/reusable method.
extension Array where Element: Hashable {
/// The mode will be nil when the array is empty.
var mode: Element? {
var counts: [Element: Int] = [:]
forEach { counts[$0] = (counts[$0] ?? 0) + 1 }
if let (value, count) = counts.max(by: {$0.1 < $1.1}) {
print("\(value) occurs \(count) times")
return value
} else {
return nil
}
}
}
usage:
print([3, 4, 5, 6, 6].mode) // 6

Answer 8

Keep track of each occurrence, counting the value of each key in a dictionary. This case is exclusive for integers. Will update this method using generics.
func mostCommon(of arr: [Int]) -> Int {
var dict = [Int:Int]()
arr.forEach {
if let count = dict[$0] {
dict[$0] = count + 1
} else {
dict[$0] = 1
}
}
let max = dict.values.max()
for (_ , value) in dict {
if value == max {
return value
}
}
return -1
}