Searching an array and returning an index

[Sam Bluesman]

Lets say i have an array called int[] numbers with values [1,2,3].

If i have a variable called calculatedNumber and its value is 2, how do i return the index of that value so that a varibale called calculatedNumberIndex becomes equal to 1? Note that all the values in []numbers will be unique

Thanks
[ November 09, 2005: Message edited by: Sam Bluesman ]

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

If the array is sorted, you can use the static java.util.Arrays.binarySearch() functions to do exactly this.

If the array is not sorted, though, you just have to do

int findValueInArray(int[] array, int searchTarget) {
  for (int i=0; i<array.length; ++i)
    if (array[i] == searchTarget)
      return i;
  return -1;
}

[Sam Bluesman]

Hi Ernest. Would the same idea work when trying to return the index of character?

Thanks

[Rob Spoor]

It would work for any type inside the array, as long as you keep in mind that in most cases you should use equals() to compare all non-primitives.