// various (non-destructive) functions on arrays
public class Exercise4a
{
  // returns position of minimum element of a
  public static int minimumPosition(int[] a)
  {
    int m = 0;
    int n = a.length;
    for (int i = 1; i < n; i++)
    {
      if (a[i] < a[m]) m = i;
    }
    return m;
  }

  // returns minimum element of a
  public static int minimumElement(int[] a)
  {
    int m = a[0];
    int n = a.length;
    for (int i = 1; i < n; i++)
    {
      if (a[i] < m) m = a[i];
    }
    return m;
  }

  // returns concatenation of a and b
  public static int[] append(int[] a, int[] b)
  {
    int n = a.length;
    int m = b.length;
    int[] c = new int[n+m];
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) 
      c[i] = a[i];
    for (int i = 0; i < m; i++) 
      c[i+m] = b[i];
    return c;
  }

  // returns copy of a with n elements starting at position p removed
  public static int[] cut(int[] a, int p, int n)
  {
    int m = a.length;
    int[] b = new int[m-n];
    for (int i=0; i<p; i++)
      b[i] = a[i];
    for (int i=p+n; i<m; i++)
      b[i-n] = a[i];
    return b;
  }

  // returns copy of a with all elements at positions 
  // from p (inclusive) to q (exclusive) replaced by x
  public static char[] overwrite(char[] a, int p, int q, char x)
  {
    int n = a.length;
    char[] b = new char[n];
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
    {
      if (p <= i && i < q)
        b[i] = x;
      else
        b[i] = a[i];
    }
    return b;
  }
}