Walk two indices toward each other from the ends of the array, swapping at each step. Stops when the indices meet or cross. Demonstrates the two-pointer pattern with the smallest possible state.

Algorithm

Canonical input [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] (odd length, middle element stays put) yields three swap frames and reverses to [7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1].

Basic Implementation

basic.cs
using System;

class Program {
	static void Main() {
		int[] arr = new int[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 };
		int left = 0;
		int right = arr.Length - 1;
		while (left < right) {
			int tmp = arr[left];
			arr[left] = arr[right];
			arr[right] = tmp;
			left = left + 1;
			right = right - 1;
		}
		Console.WriteLine("[" + string.Join(", ", arr) + "]");
	}
}

Complexity

  • Time: O(n)
  • Space: O(1)

Implementation notes

  • C#: explicit three-line int tmp = arr[left]; arr[left] = arr[right]; arr[right] = tmp; swap keeps the move visible. Array.Reverse(arr) would hide the lesson.
  • int left = 0; and int right = arr.Length - 1; use plain int indices; the left < right guard handles the meet-in-the-middle exit honestly for the odd-length canonical input.
  • The replay shows both left and right, the values about to be swapped, and the array contents after the swap. The loop-exit frame is the moment the pointers meet.
two pointers `left` starts at index `0`, `right` starts at `n - 1`. Each loop iteration swaps `arr[left]` and `arr[right]` and moves the pointers toward each other.