Binary Search Closest Element Assignment Answers

Question:

Assignment: Write the public static method named findClosest(int[] array, int target) that uses the binary search technique to find the element in an int array that is closest to the target value.

If two numbers 𝑛 are 𝑚 are equally distant to a third number 𝑙, pick the smaller between 𝑛 and 𝑚;

The method should return the int value that is the closest to the target value.

Binary Search Closest Element Answer and Explanation

To solve the problem of finding the element in a sorted array that is closest to a given target using binary search, we can follow these steps:

1. Use binary search to locate the target or the closest potential position.

// Handle edge cases

if (array == null || array.length == 0) {

// If the target is less than the first element

if (target <= array[left]) {

return array[right];

}

if (array[mid] == target) {

return array[mid];

} else {

right = mid - 1;

// Compare array[left] and array[right] to find the closest

if ((array[left] - target) < (target - array[right])) {

}

public static void main(String[] args) {

}

Explanation:

- We perform the standard binary search. If the target is found, return it immediately.

- If the target is not found, the search space is narrowed down until `left` and `right` cross each other.

This approach ensures that we find the closest element in logarithmic time, leveraging the efficiency of binary search.