Find the most common entry in an array

Question

You are given a 32-bit unsigned integer array with length up to 2³², with the property that more than half of the entries in the array are equal to N, for some 32

Answer 1

You can do this with only two variables.

public uint MostCommon(UInt32[] numberList)
{
    uint suspect = 0;
    int suspicionStrength = -1; 
    foreach (uint number in numberList)
    {
        if (number==suspect)
        {
            suspicionStrength++;
        }
        else
        {
            suspicionStrength--;
        }

        if (suspicionStrength<=0)
        {
            suspect = number;
        }
    }
    return suspect;
}

Make the first number the suspect number, and continue looping through the list. If the number matches, increase the suspicion strength by one; if it doesn't match, lower the suspicion strength by one. If the suspicion strength hits 0 the current number becomes the suspect number. This will not work to find the most common number, only a number that is more than 50% of the group. Resist the urge to add a check if suspicionStrength is greater than half the list length - it will always result in more total comparisons.

P.S. I have not tested this code - use it at your own peril.