(Java) A search similar to Binary but using /3 instead of /2

Question

I have created a program which compares different search methods which search for a random int value 0-999 from a sorted array which is 0-999. I have created a binary search which works perfectly and after doing this I decided to try to create a search which, instead of splitting the values into half, splits them into 1/3 and 2/3 depending. So basically if I have {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15} and I was looking for 10 I would go from above to {6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15} to {10,11,12,13,14,15} to {10,11} then simple {10} and return the index of this value.

I currently have:

int loopTotal3 = 0;
    for(int y = 0; y < 1000; y++){
        System.out.println("Reference1");
        int first = 0;
        int last = array0Through999.length - 1;
        int third = (array0Through999[0] + array0Through999[999]) / 3;

        int findThis3 = rand.nextInt(1000);
        int loop3 = 0;
        while(first <= last){
            System.out.println("Reference2");
            loop3++;
             if (array0Through999[third] < findThis3){
                 System.out.println("Reference3");
                 first = third + 1;
             }
             else if(array0Through999[third] ==  findThis3){
                 System.out.println("Reference4");
                 break;
             }
             else{
                 System.out.println("Reference5");
                 last = third-1;
             }
             third = (first + last) / 3;
        }
        loopTotal3 = loopTotal3 + loop3;
    }
    int loopAverage3 = loopTotal3 / 1000;
    System.out.println("The average number of times for a Binary Search is: " + loopAverage3 + "\n");

The code is currently getting stuck running through the first if statement and I am not positive of why.

Any ideas about my issue or if this logic is close to correct?

Answer 1

import java.util.Random;

public class weqfgtqertg {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        int array0Through999[] = {0,1,...,999};
        int loopTotal3 = 0;
        Random rand = new Random();
        for(int y = 0; y < 1000; y++){
            //System.out.println("Reference1");
            System.out.println(y);
            int first = 0;
            int last = array0Through999.length - 1;
            int third = (first + last) / 3;

            int findThis3 = rand.nextInt(1000);
            int loop3 = 0;
            while(first <= last) {
                //System.out.println("Reference1");
                loop3++;
                 if (array0Through999[third] < findThis3){
                     //System.out.println("Reference3");
                     first = third+1;
                 }
                 else if(array0Through999[third] ==  findThis3){
                     //System.out.println("Reference4");
                     break;
                 }
                 else{
                     //System.out.println("Reference5");
                     last = third-1;
                 }
                 int calc = last - first;
                 third = first + (calc/3);
            }//end while
            loopTotal3 = loopTotal3 + loop3;
        }//end for
        int loopAverage3 = loopTotal3 / 1000;
        System.out.println("The average number of times for a Tertiary Search is: " + loopAverage3);
    }
}

It has been a while since I posted this question but I finally got around to solving my issue. Here is the correct code for anyone who may stumble upon this.

edit: The array includes the "..." to make this not obnoxious to read or put out onto the screen. I had all 0-999 within my array hard coded.