From: Stefan Rusterholz <apeiros@...>
Date: 2007-11-14T00:56:26+09:00
Subject: Re: array ordering / selection according to elements -

Shai Rosenfeld wrote:
> 
> given that time1 < time2 < time3 < time4 ... (and are all Time objects)
> 
> myarray= [ time1, time2, time3, time4, time5 , time6 , time7 , .. ]
> 
> special_sort(time4)= [ time3, time4, time5 ]
> 
> ...basically, passing an arg of a certain obj in the array to a
> "special_sort" func, how do i collect the "nearest" ones to it? thx for
> any suggestions

min is O(n), gives you only the closest:
array.min { |a,b| (closest_to - a).abs <=> (closest_to - b).abs }

sort_by is O(nlogn), but you can use first(n) to get the n closest 
values:
array.sort_by { |e| (closest_to - e).abs }.first(n)

Regards
Stefan
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