javascriptInfinite loopHard

Search freezes when the value is missing

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What it should do

indexOfValue(sorted, target) returns the index of target in a sorted array, or -1 if it is not there. Example: indexOfValue([1, 3, 5, 7], 4) → -1.

What happens instead

indexOfValue([1, 3, 5, 7], 4) never finishes. Searching for 5 works.

function indexOfValue(sorted, target) {
    let low = 0;
    let high = sorted.length - 1;
    while (low <= high) {
        const mid = Math.floor((low + high) / 2);
        if (sorted[mid] === target) {
            return mid;
        }
        if (sorted[mid] < target) {
            low = mid;
        } else {
            high = mid;
        }
    }
    return -1;
}

Test a custom input to verify an edge case (e.g. empty lists, negative numbers, duplicates).

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This bug belongs to the infinite loops pattern

The tab freezes, nothing prints, and the loop condition never becomes false.

Learn the infinite loops pattern Step through your own code

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function indexOfValue(sorted, target) { let low = 0; let high = sorted.length - 1; while (low <= high) { const mid = Math.floor((low + high) / 2); if (sorted[mid] === target) { return mid; } if (sorted[mid] < target) { low = mid; } else { high = mid; } } return -1; }

Search freezes when the value is missing

What it should do

What happens instead

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Search freezes when the value is missing

What it should do

What happens instead

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