_Question.md

An array of integers is defined as being in meandering order when the first two elements are the respective largest and smallest elements in the array and the subsequent elements alternate between its next largest and next smallest elements. In other words, the elements are in order of [first_largest, first_smallest, second_largest, second_smallest, ...].

Example

The array [5, 2, 7, 8, -2, 25, 25] sorted normally is [-2, 2, 5, 7, 8, 25, 25]. Sorted in meandering order, it becomes [25, -2, 25, 2, 8, 5, 7]

Function Description

The function takes one parameter, unsorted[n]: the unsorted array

Returns: int[n]: the array sorted in meandering orderj

meanderingArray.js

// this is a crude implementation, kindly share your view on how you would optimize it
function meanderingArray(unsorted) {
  // copy the arrays into two different arrays, sort one in descending order and the other in ascending order
  let aunsorted = unsorted.slice()
  let bunsorted = unsorted.slice()
  let sorteddsc = aunsorted.sort((a,b)=> b-a)
  let sortedasc = bunsorted.sort((a,b)=> a-b)

	let meanderArray = [];
	// construct the meanderArray from the two sorted arrays,picking from the arrays simultaneously
	for (let i = 0; i < sorteddsc.length; i++) {
		meanderArray.push(sorteddsc[i])
		if (meanderArray.length === unsorted.length){
			return meanderArray
		}
		meanderArray.push(sortedasc[i])
		if (meanderArray.length === unsorted.length){
			return meanderArray
		}
	} 
}

let unsorted = [5,2,7,8,-2,25,25]
meanderingArray(unsorted);