In this example we shall show you how to search an element of an array using the binary algorithm in Java. We are using an int array in the example, but the same API applies to any type of arrays e.g. byte[], char[], double[], float[], long[], short[]. We are using the binarySearch(int[] b, int value) API method of Arrays. To search an element of an int array using the binary algorithm one should perform the following steps:
- Create an
intarray with elements. - Invoke
sort(int[] a)API method of Arrays to sort the array in ascending order, since the binary search must be implemented in a sorted array. - Invoke
binarySearch(int[] b, int value)API method of Arrays. It searches the provided sorted array for the specified value using the binary search algorithm. The method returns the index of the search key, if it is contained in the array, otherwise, (-(insertion point) – 1). The insertion point is defined as the point at which the key would be inserted into the array,
as described in the code snippet below.
package com.javacodegeeks.snippets.core;
import java.util.Arrays;
public class BinarySearchArrays {
public static void main(String[] args) {
/*
Please note that the same API applies to any type of arrays e.g.
byte[], char[], double[], float[], long[], short[]
*/
// Create int array
int intArray[] = {1,4,3,5,2};
/*
int binarySearch(int[] b, int value) operation searches the provided array for
the specified value using the binary search algorithm. Beware the source array
must be sorted before it can be searched using this method. The method returns
the index of the search key, if it is contained in the array; otherwise,
(-(insertion point) - 1). The insertion point is defined as the point at which
the key would be inserted into the array
*/
Arrays.sort(intArray);
// We search for a value that exists in the array (value 2)
int searchIndex1 = Arrays.binarySearch(intArray,2);
System.out.println("Value 2 found at index : " + searchIndex1);
// We search for a value that does not exist in the array (value 6)
int searchIndex2 = Arrays.binarySearch(intArray,6);
System.out.println("Value 6 should be inserted at index : " + (-(searchIndex2) - 1));
}
}
Output:
Value 2 found at index : 1
Value 6 should be inserted at index : 5
This was an example of how to search an element of an array using the binary algorithm in Java.
