From: Martin DeMello <martindemello@...>
Date: 2011-05-15T06:33:49+09:00
Subject: Re: search nearest to elements in array (hash)

On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 2:58 AM, 7stud -- <bbxx789_05ss@yahoo.com> wrote:
> data = [1.1, 4.2, 3.1, 2.6, 6.1, 5.0]
> needle = rand 10
>
> arr = data.map do |num|
>   [(num - needle).abs, num]
> end
>
> sorted = arr.sort_by {|sub_arr| sub_arr[0]}

You're sorting when all you want is the minimum

data = [1.1, 4.2, 3.1, 2.6, 6.1, 5.0]
needle = rand 10

min, mini = nil, 0

data.each_with_index do |num, i|
  if (num - needle).abs < min
    min = (num - needle).abs
    mini = i
  end
end

puts "nearest element is #{min} at index #{mini}"

martin