Finding closest number in an array

Question

In an array first we have to find whether a desired number exists in that or not? If not then how will I find nearer number to the given desired number in Java?

Answer 1

// paulmurray's answer to your question is really the best :

// The least square solution is way more elegant, 
// here is a test code where numbertoLookFor
// is zero, if you want to try ...

import java.util.* ;

public class main {
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        int[] somenumbers = {-2,3,6,1,5,5,-1} ;
        ArrayList l = new ArrayList(10) ;
        for(int i=0 ; i()
                {
                    public int compare(Integer n1, Integer n2)
                    {
                        return n1*n1 - n2*n2 ;
                    }
                }
        ) ;
        Integer first = l.get(0) ;
        System.out.println("nearest number is " + first) ;  
    }
}