Question

int[] array = new int[5]{5,7,8,15,20};

int TargetNumber = 13;

For a target number, I want to find the closest number in an array. For example, when the target number is 13, the closest number to it in the array above is 15. How would I accomplish that programmatically in C#?

Answer 1

EDIT: Have adjusted the queries below to convert to using long arithmetic, so that we avoid overflow issues.

I would probably use MoreLINQ‘s MinBy method:

var nearest = array.MinBy(x => Math.Abs((long) x - targetNumber));

Or you could just use:

var nearest = array.OrderBy(x => Math.Abs((long) x - targetNumber)).First();

… but that will sort the whole collection, which you really don’t need. It won’t make much difference for a small array, admittedly… but it just doesn’t feel quite right, compared with describing what you’re actually trying to do: find the element with the minimum value according to some function.

Note that both of these will fail if the array is empty, so you should check for that first.