The original article focuses on numerical arrays. This follow-up would extend the concept to finding the k-th smallest element in an array of strings based on lexicographical order. This shift in data type introduces new challenges related to string comparison and sorting. The article would explain how the same algorithms (sorting, heap-based methods, and quickselect) can be adapted to work with strings. It would highlight the string comparison cost and how that affects the overall performance of the algorithms. It should also cover edge cases such as empty strings, strings with different lengths, and the impact of character encoding (ASCII, UTF-8) on lexicographical order. Example code would show how to implement these algorithms in Python or another relevant language, demonstrating how to perform lexicographical comparisons using built-in functions or custom comparison functions. Furthermore, it could explore the use of specialized data structures like tries, which are optimized