13.
Chapter 13 Solutions
Written by Jonathan Sande
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Solution to Challenge 1
In this challenge, you implement binary search as a free function. Here’s what it looks like:
int? binarySearch<E extends Comparable<E>>(List<E> list, E value) {
var start = 0;
var end = list.length;
while (start < end) {
final size = end - start;
final middle = start + size ~/ 2;
if (list[middle] == value) {
return middle;
} else if (list[middle].compareTo(value) < 0) {
start = middle + 1;
} else {
end = middle;
}
}
return null;
}
The only major difference from the extension that you made earlier is that now you also need to pass the list in as a parameter.
Don’t forget that you need to specify the function’s generic type as num
:
final list = [1, 5, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 31, 105, 150];
final index = binarySearch<num>(list, 31);
print('Found at index $index'); // 7
Solution to Challenge 2
Here’s how you would implement binarySearch
as a recursive function:
int? binarySearch<E extends Comparable<E>>(
List<E> list,
E value, [
int? startIndex,
int? endIndex,
]) {
final start = startIndex ?? 0;
final end = endIndex ?? list.length;
if (start >= end) {
return null;
}
final size = end - start;
final middle = start + size ~/ 2;
if (list[middle] == value) {
return middle;
} else if (list[middle].compareTo(value) < 0) {
return binarySearch(list, value, middle + 1, end);
} else {
return binarySearch(list, value, start, middle);
}
}
Solution to Challenge 3
First, create a class to hold the start and end indices:
class Range {
const Range(this.start, this.end);
final int start;
final int end;
@override
String toString() => 'Range($start, $end)';
}
Range? findRange(List<int> list, int value) {
final start = list.indexOf(value);
if (start == -1) return null;
final end = list.lastIndexOf(value) + 1;
return Range(start, end);
}
int? _startIndex(List<int> list, int value) {
if (list[0] == value) return 0;
var start = 1;
var end = list.length;
while (start < end) {
final size = end - start;
final middle = start + size ~/ 2;
if (list[middle] == value && list[middle - 1] != value) {
return middle;
} else if (list[middle] < value) {
start = middle + 1;
} else {
end = middle;
}
}
return null;
}
int? _endIndex(List<int> list, int value) {
if (list[list.length - 1] == value) return list.length;
var start = 0;
var end = list.length - 1;
while (start < end) {
final size = end - start;
final middle = start + size ~/ 2;
if (list[middle] == value && list[middle + 1] != value) {
return middle + 1;
} else if (list[middle] > value) {
end = middle;
} else {
start = middle + 1;
}
}
return null;
}
Range? findRange(List<int> list, int value) {
if (list.isEmpty) return null;
final start = _startIndex(list, value);
final end = _endIndex(list, value);
if (start == null || end == null) return null;
return Range(start, end);
}
final list = [1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5];
final range = findRange(list, 3);
print(range);
Range(2, 5)