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.scala
object Main {
	def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
		val arr = Array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
		var left = 0
		var right = arr.length - 1
		while (left < right) {
			val tmp = arr(left)
			arr(left) = arr(right)
			arr(right) = tmp
			left = left + 1
			right = right - 1
		}
		println(arr.mkString("[", ", ", "]"))
	}
}

Complexity

  • Time: O(n)
  • Space: O(1)

Implementation notes

  • Scala: explicit three-line val tmp = arr(left); arr(left) = arr(right); arr(right) = tmp swap keeps the move visible. The stdlib arr.reverse (or Array.copyOf with a reversed range) would hide the lesson.
  • var left = 0 and var 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.