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Therefore, to find out the closest number we just return the index of the found minimum in the given array indexArr. indexOf(min) .
So if the array is like [2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9] and the target number is 4, then closest element is 5. We can solve this by traversing through the given array and keep track of absolute difference of current element with every element. Finally return the element that has minimum absolute difference.
ES5 Version:
var counts = [4, 9, 15, 6, 2],
goal = 5;
var closest = counts.reduce(function(prev, curr) {
return (Math.abs(curr - goal) < Math.abs(prev - goal) ? curr : prev);
});
console.log(closest);Here's the pseudo-code which should be convertible into any procedural language:
array = [2, 42, 82, 122, 162, 202, 242, 282, 322, 362]
number = 112
print closest (number, array)
def closest (num, arr):
curr = arr[0]
foreach val in arr:
if abs (num - val) < abs (num - curr):
curr = val
return curr
It simply works out the absolute differences between the given number and each array element and gives you back one of the ones with the minimal difference.
For the example values:
number = 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 112
array = 2 42 82 122 162 202 242 282 322 362
diff = 110 70 30 10 50 90 130 170 210 250
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+-- one with minimal absolute difference.
As a proof of concept, here's the Python code I used to show this in action:
def closest (num, arr):
curr = arr[0]
for index in range (len (arr)):
if abs (num - arr[index]) < abs (num - curr):
curr = arr[index]
return curr
array = [2, 42, 82, 122, 162, 202, 242, 282, 322, 362]
number = 112
print closest (number, array)
And, if you really need it in Javascript, see below for a complete HTML file which demonstrates the function in action:
<html>
<head></head>
<body>
<script language="javascript">
function closest (num, arr) {
var curr = arr[0];
var diff = Math.abs (num - curr);
for (var val = 0; val < arr.length; val++) {
var newdiff = Math.abs (num - arr[val]);
if (newdiff < diff) {
diff = newdiff;
curr = arr[val];
}
}
return curr;
}
array = [2, 42, 82, 122, 162, 202, 242, 282, 322, 362];
number = 112;
alert (closest (number, array));
</script>
</body>
</html>
Now keep in mind there may be scope for improved efficiency if, for example, your data items are sorted (that could be inferred from the sample data but you don't explicitly state it). You could, for example, use a binary search to find the closest item.
You should also keep in mind that, unless you need to do it many times per second, the efficiency improvements will be mostly unnoticable unless your data sets get much larger.
If you do want to try it that way (and can guarantee the array is sorted in ascending order), this is a good starting point:
<html>
<head></head>
<body>
<script language="javascript">
function closest (num, arr) {
var mid;
var lo = 0;
var hi = arr.length - 1;
while (hi - lo > 1) {
mid = Math.floor ((lo + hi) / 2);
if (arr[mid] < num) {
lo = mid;
} else {
hi = mid;
}
}
if (num - arr[lo] <= arr[hi] - num) {
return arr[lo];
}
return arr[hi];
}
array = [2, 42, 82, 122, 162, 202, 242, 282, 322, 362];
number = 112;
alert (closest (number, array));
</script>
</body>
</html>
It basically uses bracketing and checking of the middle value to reduce the solution space by half for each iteration, a classic O(log N) algorithm whereas the sequential search above was O(N):
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <- indexes
2 42 82 122 162 202 242 282 322 362 <- values
L M H L=0, H=9, M=4, 162 higher, H<-M
L M H L=0, H=4, M=2, 82 lower/equal, L<-M
L M H L=2, H=4, M=3, 122 higher, H<-M
L H L=2, H=3, difference of 1 so exit
^
|
H (122-112=10) is closer than L (112-82=30) so choose H
As stated, that shouldn't make much of a difference for small datasets or for things that don't need to be blindingly fast, but it's an option you may want to consider.
ES6 (ECMAScript 2015) Version:
const counts = [4, 9, 15, 6, 2];
const goal = 5;
const output = counts.reduce((prev, curr) => Math.abs(curr - goal) < Math.abs(prev - goal) ? curr : prev);
console.log(output);For reusability you can wrap in a curry function that supports placeholders (http://ramdajs.com/0.19.1/docs/#curry or https://lodash.com/docs#curry). This gives lots of flexibility depending on what you need:
const getClosest = _.curry((counts, goal) => {
return counts.reduce((prev, curr) => Math.abs(curr - goal) < Math.abs(prev - goal) ? curr : prev);
});
const closestToFive = getClosest(_, 5);
const output = closestToFive([4, 9, 15, 6, 2]);
console.log(output);<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/lodash.min.js"></script>Working code as below:
var array = [2, 42, 82, 122, 162, 202, 242, 282, 322, 362];
function closest(array, num) {
var i = 0;
var minDiff = 1000;
var ans;
for (i in array) {
var m = Math.abs(num - array[i]);
if (m < minDiff) {
minDiff = m;
ans = array[i];
}
}
return ans;
}
console.log(closest(array, 88));If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
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