Finding the smallest index in an array without considering the value of the element

Question

Finding the smallest index in an array without considering the value of the element

Consider the following array:

array = [[3, 3], [3, 4], [3, 5], [3, 6]]

Now let's take a look at this conditional statement:

array = [[3, 3], [3, 4], [3, 5], [3, 6]]

for(let i = 0; i < array.length; i++){
    if (array[i][0] === 3 && array[i][1] === 4 || array[i][0] === 3 && array[i][1] === 5){
        console.log(i)
    }
}

In this scenario, the indexes that would be printed are 1 and 2, showing up sequentially in the console.log().

Your challenge is to extract the minimum index (1 in this case) from within the loop. It isn't possible to store these numbers in an array due to certain constraints, so the minimum must be determined during iteration without prior knowledge of which element will have the smallest index.

Do you think this task can be accomplished or is it a case of overthinking the problem?

javascript arrays loops min

Answer 1

Answer №1

To efficiently find a specific element in an array, you can declare a variable outside the loop to store the index when the condition is met:

arr = [[3, 3], [3, 4], [3, 5], [3, 6]]

var ind = 0

for(let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){
    if (arr[i][0] === 3 && arr[i][1] === 4 || arr[i][0] === 3 && arr[i][1] === 5){
        ind = i;
        break;
    }
}

console.log(ind)

Another approach is to use the Array.findIndex method for a more concise solution:

arr = [[3, 3], [3, 4], [3, 5], [3, 6]]

var ind = arr.findIndex(e => e[0] === 3 && e[1] === 4 || e[0] === 3 && e[1] === 5)

console.log(ind)

Answer 2

To efficiently find a specific element in an array, you can declare a variable outside the loop to store the index when the condition is met:

arr = [[3, 3], [3, 4], [3, 5], [3, 6]]

var ind = 0

for(let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){
    if (arr[i][0] === 3 && arr[i][1] === 4 || arr[i][0] === 3 && arr[i][1] === 5){
        ind = i;
        break;
    }
}

console.log(ind)

Another approach is to use the Array.findIndex method for a more concise solution:

arr = [[3, 3], [3, 4], [3, 5], [3, 6]]

var ind = arr.findIndex(e => e[0] === 3 && e[1] === 4 || e[0] === 3 && e[1] === 5)

console.log(ind)

Finding the smallest index in an array without considering the value of the element

Answer №1

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