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javascriptbinary-searchkhan-academy

Why can't my algorithm find the index in my array?


Why is my algorithm returning “-1” meaning that target value 73 isn’t in the array? (When clearly 73 is in the array). [this is from Khan Academy, but isn't helping]

It's supposed to return either the index of the location in the array, or "-1" if the array did not contain the targetValue

Var doSearch = function(array, targetValue) {
    var min = 0;
    var max = array.length - 1;
    var guess;
    while(max >= min) {
        guess = floor((max*1 + min*1) / 2);
        if (guess === targetValue) {
            return guess;
        } else if (guess < targetValue) {
            min = guess + 1;
        } else {
            max = guess - 1;
        }
    }
    return -1;
};

var primes = [2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 
    41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97];

var result = doSearch(primes, 73);
println("Found prime at index " + result);

Solution

  • Your function doSearch() doesn't compare any value of the array to the targetValue. You need to access the guess position and compare it, like this:

    var doSearch = function(array, targetValue) {
        var min = 0;
        var max = array.length - 1;
        var guess;
        while(max >= min){
            guess = Math.floor((max*1 + min*1) / 2);
            if (array[guess] === targetValue) {
                return guess;
            } else if (array[guess] < targetValue) {
                min = guess + 1;
            } else {
                max = guess - 1;
            }
        }
        return -1;
    };
    
    var primes = [2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 
    41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97];
    
    var result = doSearch(primes, 73);
    console.log("Found prime at index " + result);

    Warning: The function floor() doesn't exist in JavaScript. You should use Math.floor(). Also, the function println(). Use console.log() instead.