Searching sorted data interview questions

Quick facts

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• bisect.bisect_leftShowHide

  bisect_left(a, x) returns the first index where x could be inserted to keep a sorted: the first position with a[i] >= x.

• bisect.bisect_rightShowHide

  bisect_right(a, x) returns the position after any existing copies of x: the first position with a[i] > x.

• bisect key argumentShowHide

  Since Python 3.10, bisect functions accept key=, so you can search a list of records by one field.

• math.isqrtShowHide

  math.isqrt(n) returns the floor of the square root of a non-negative integer exactly, with no floating-point rounding.

• Kotlin binarySearchShowHide

  List.binarySearch(x) returns the index if found, otherwise -(insertion point) - 1.