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# std::bsearch

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | algorithm

Defined in header `<cstdlib>` |  |
void* bsearch( const void* key, const void* ptr, std::size_t count, std::size_t size, int (*comp)(const void*, const void*) ); |  |

Finds an element equal to element pointed to by `key` in a sorted array pointed to by `ptr`. The array contains `count` elements of `size` bytes. The elements are compared using function pointed to by `comp`.

The behavior is undefined if the array is not already sorted in ascending order according to the same criteria that `comp` uses.

If the array contains several elements that `comp` would indicate as equal to the element searched for, then it is undefined which element the function will return as the result.

### [edit] Parameters

key | - | pointer to the element to search for
ptr | - | pointer to the array to examine
count | - | number of element in the array
size | - | size of each element in the array in bytes
comp | - | comparison function which returns ​a negative integer value if the first argument is less than the second, a positive integer value if the first argument is greater than the second and zero if the arguments are equal. `key` is passed as the first argument, an element from the array as the second. The signature of the comparison function should be equivalent to the following: int cmp(const void *a, const void *b); The function must not modify the objects passed to it. ​

### [edit] Return value

Pointer to the found element or NULL if the element has not been found.

### [edit] Example

Run this code

    #include <cstdlib>
    #include <iostream>

    int compare(const void *ap, const void *bp)
    {
        const int *a = (int *) ap;
        const int *b = (int *) bp;
        if(*a < *b)
            return -1;
        else if(*a > *b)
            return 1;
        else
            return 0;
    }

    int main(int argc, char **argv)
    {
        const int ARR_SIZE = 8;
        int arr[ARR_SIZE] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 };

        int key1 = 4;
        int *p1 = (int *) std::bsearch(&key1, arr, ARR_SIZE, sizeof(arr[0]), compare);
        if(p1)
            std::cout << "value " << key1 << " found at position " << (p1 - arr) << '\n';
         else
            std::cout << "value " << key1 << " not found\n";

        int key2 = 9;
        int *p2 = (int *) std::bsearch(&key2, arr, ARR_SIZE, sizeof(arr[0]), compare);
        if(p2)
            std::cout << "value " << key2 << " found at position " << (p2 - arr) << '\n';
         else
            std::cout << "value " << key2 << " not found\n";
    }

Output:

    value 4 found at position 3
    value 9 not found

### [edit] See also

qsort | sorts a range of elements with unspecified type (function) [edit]
equal_range | returns range of elements matching a specific key (function template) [edit]
C documentation for bsearch

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