Dichotomic search

Write an efficient recursive function that returns the position of @x@ in the subvector @v@[@left@..@right@]. The function must return $-1$ if @x@ does not belong to @v@[@left@..@right@] or if @left@ $>$ @right@.

Precondition

The vector @v@ is sorted in strictly increasing order. Moreover, we have $0 \le$ @left@ $\le$ size of v and $-1 \le$ @right@ $<$ size of v.

Interface

C++	`int position(double x, const vector<double>& v, int left, int right);`
C	`int position(double x, double v[], int left, int right);`
Java	`public static int position(double x, double[] v, int left, int right);`
Python	`position(x, v, left, right) # returns int`
MyPy	`position(x: float, v: list[float], left: int, right: int) -> int`

Observation

You only need to submit the required procedure; your main program will be ignored.

Problem information

Author: Unknown
Translator: Carlos Molina

Generation: 2026-01-25T11:55:57.549Z