Searching, Min/Max & Reverse

Linear search checks each element in order until it finds the target.

• Return the index when found
• If not found, return -1
• Stop early with break

public class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    // Example array
    int[] a = {5, 8, 9, 12, 15};

    int t = 9;      // target value to search
    int idx = -1;   // will stay -1 if not found

    // Loop through each index of the array
    for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i = i + 1) {
      // Check if current element matches the target
      if (a[i] == t) {
        idx = i;   // store the index where found
        break;     // exit loop early (found the target)
      }
    }

    // Print result
    if (idx != -1) {
      System.out.println("Found " + t + " at index " + idx);
    } else {
      System.out.println(t + " not found in array");
    }
  }
}

Encapsulate search in a method:

public class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    // Example array
    int[] a = {5, 8, 9, 12, 15};

    int t = 9;      // target value we are searching for
    int idx = -1;   // default index (-1 means "not found")

    // Loop through each index of the array
    for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i = i + 1) {
      // Check if current element matches the target
      if (a[i] == t) {
        idx = i;   // store the index where it was found
        break;     // stop searching (first match found)
      }
    }

    // Print result
    if (idx != -1) {
      System.out.println("Found " + t + " at index " + idx);
    } else {
      System.out.println(t + " not found in array");
    }
  }
}