Finding the closest number in a random set

Question

Say I got a set of 10 random numbers between 0 and 100.

An operator gives me also a random number between 0 and 100. Then I got to find the number in the set that is

Answer 1

python example:

#!/usr/bin/env python
import random
from operator import itemgetter

sample = random.sample(range(100), 10)
pivot = random.randint(0, 100)

print 'sample: ', sample
print 'pivot:', pivot
print 'closest:', sample[
    sorted(
        map(lambda i, e: (i, abs(e - pivot)), range(10), sample), 
        key=itemgetter(1)
    )[1][0]]

# sample:  [61, 2, 3, 85, 15, 18, 19, 8, 66, 4]
# pivot: 51
# closest: 66