Problem

Create a method that accepts an array of integers and a key value (integer) to determine whether or not the key value exists in the given array.

The method should return true if the key value was found in the array, otherwise the method should return false.

Array Algorithms

Solution

Start by creating the method, this method should accept an array of integers and return an integer value.

 public static boolean elementExists(int[] array, int x) {

} 

You'll want to keep a boolean variable to keep track of whether or not you have found the key value x. At the beginning of your method, initialize this boolean variable to false since you have not yet found the key value.

 boolean exists = false;

return exists; 

Use a for loop to go through each element in the array to check if it is the value you're looking for.

 for(i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {

} 

Use an if statement to compare each element with the given key value x. In order to compare each element with x, use the '==' operator. If the current element is equal to the key value, that means you have found the element in the array, so you can set your boolean variable exists to true.

 if(array[i] == x) {
    exists = true;
} 

After the for loop, return your boolean exists variable.

 return exists; 

Putting everything together, here's what the entire method should look like:

 public static boolean elementExists(int[] array, int x) {
    int i; // loop iterator
    boolean exists = false;

    for(i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
        if(array[i] == x) {
            exists = true;
        }
    }

    return exists;
} 

Code

Solution Code

/*
This program asks the user to input a value between 0-15,
creates an array of ten random numbers between 0 and 15 
and checks to see if the user's given value is in the array
*/

import javax.swing.JOptionPane;

public class LinearSearchForX {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        int i, x;
	int[] numbers = new int[10];
	boolean xFound = false;

	// Ask user to input a value to search for
	x = Integer.parseInt(JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "Enter a value between (0-15) to search for:"));

	// Create an array of random numbers
	for(i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) {
	    numbers[i] = (int)(Math.random() * 15); // generates a random number from 0-15
	    System.out.println("numbers["+i+"] = "+numbers[i]);
	}

	// Call your method to check if the element exists
	xFound = elementExists(numbers, x);

	// Display the results of your search.
	if(xFound) {
	    System.out.println( x + " was found in the array" );
	} else {
	    System.out.println( x + " was not found in the array" );
	}
    }
    
    // This method returns a boolean indicating whether the element was found
    // in the array or not
    public static boolean elementExists(int[] array, int x) {
        int i; // loop iterator
        boolean exists = false;

        for(i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
            if(array[i] == x) {
                exists = true;
            }
        }

        return exists;
    }

}