rich lee wrote:
Hello everyone,
Hello,
I am trying to read "mastering algorithm with perl" and below example has me bit stuck. I understand everything except these 2 lines $low = $try + 1, next if $array->[$try] lt $word; $high = $try -1, next if $array->[$try] gt $word;
Those two lines are short for: if ( $array->[ $try ] lt $word ) { $low = $try + 1; next; } if ( $array->[ $try ] gt $word ) { $high = $try - 1; next; }
I understand what it's doing but I am not sure how they are being ran. For example, Let's say in one particular turn, $array->[$try] is greater than $word... I am trying to understand how it skips this line ---> $low = $try + 1, next if $array->[$try] lt $word;
If $array->[$try] is greater than $word then it cannot be less than $word, or equal to $word at the same time.
when I look at above 2 lines, it looks like they should be processed sequentially. Meaning $low = $try + 1 should be processed everytime...and $high=$try-1 should be processed everytime....
No, only "if $array->[$try] lt $word" is processed every time.
In reality(after looking at the explanation), it should only lower or raise when $array->[$try] is either less than(then it should raise the bottom) and greater( should lower the top) I think I am just not understanding the syntax on above 2 lines.. can someone please describe it for me(or am i missing the precedence of the relationship of the line?? $index = binary_search( \...@array, $word ) sub binary_search { my ($array, $word) = @_; my ($low, $high) = ( 0, @$array - 1 ); while ( $low <= $high ) { my $try = int( ($low+$high)/2 ); $low = $try + 1, next if $array->[$try] lt $word; $high = $try -1, next if $array->[$try] gt $word; return $try; #we've found the word! } return; #the word isn't there }
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