The challenge
Can you find the needle in the haystack?
Write a function findNeedle() that takes an array full of junk but containing one "needle"
After your function finds the needle it should return a message (as a string) that says:
"found the needle at position " plus the index it found the needle, so:
findNeedle(new Object[] {"hay", "junk", "hay", "hay", "moreJunk", "needle", "randomJunk"})
should return "found the needle at position 5"
The solution in Java code
public class Solution {
public static String findNeedle(Object[] haystack) {
for (int i=0; i<haystack.length; i++) {
if (haystack[i] == "needle")
return "found the needle at position "+i;
}
return null;
}
}
A more succinct solution, without using a for loop:
import java.util.*;
public class Solution {
public static String findNeedle(Object[] haystack) {
return "found the needle at position " + Arrays.asList(haystack).indexOf("needle");
}
}
Test cases to validate our solution
import org.junit.Test;
import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
public class NeedleExampleTests {
@Test
public void tests() {
Object[] haystack1 = {"3", "123124234", null, "needle", "world", "hay", 2, "3", true, false};
Object[] haystack2 = {"283497238987234", "a dog", "a cat", "some random junk", "a piece of hay", "needle", "something somebody lost a while ago"};
Object[] haystack3 = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,8,7,5,4,3,4,5,6,67,5,5,3,3,4,2,34,234,23,4,234,324,324,"needle",1,2,3,4,5,5,6,5,4,32,3,45,54};
assertEquals("found the needle at position 3", Solution.findNeedle(haystack1));
assertEquals("found the needle at position 5", Solution.findNeedle(haystack2));
assertEquals("found the needle at position 30", Solution.findNeedle(haystack3));
}
}