Wow, good thread. Here's my 2 cents. Perhaps one other thing to factor is if the array is sorted:
"If the array is not sorted the best you can do is iterate through all of the items in the array, checking each element, until you either find the matching string or reach the end of the array. This approach is said to run in linear time since the amount of time required for the algorithm to run is linearly proportional to the length of the array. That is, if the array contains 1,000 elements, you will have to check at most 1,000 elements (assuming the element is in the last position of the array, or is not found at all in the array); if the array contains 1,000,000 elements, you will have to check at most 1,000,000 elements. Hence, there is a linear proportionality between the amount of work that needs to be done to search the array and the size of the array (namely, a proportion of 1). However, if your array is sorted there is a much faster algorithm you can employ to determine whether or not a particular element exists within the array, known as the binary search algorithm. In this article we will examine how this algorithm works, its running time, and how to use the Array.BinarySearch method, which searches a sorted array using the binary search algorithm." Src: http://aspnet.4guysfromrolla.com/articles/110602-1.aspx Src: http://code.dreamincode.net/snippet515.htm -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Tyler Wright Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 4:36 PM To: Flashcoders mailing list Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] Find item in array :) So, for the sake of another one of those big arguments over what's better where no one ever test, I wrote some code to find out exact results: The following code executes one particular test on my Windows XP machine. For results I got an averate of 347 miliseconds executeing the --i -(-1) and 343 ms with the for..in loop. I was surprised at how close they were. Now that being the difference over 10,000 iterations, I can't really say for..in is much faster, if at all. Perhaps the results are different on someone else's machine, or perhaps different results from a different type of array. Now iterating through the entire array the for..in did seem to be faster, but for the test I chose a value directly in the middle so each method had the same amount of value's to cover. anyway, I conclude nothing. ;) except that we should always test our results. Tyler var myArray:Array = ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i", "j", "k", "l", "m", "n", "o", "p"]; var time:Number = getTimer(); var loop:Number = 9999; while (loop--) { /*/ var j:Number = myArray.length while (--j -(-1)) { if(myArray[j] == "h"){ break; } } /*/ for (var j in myArray) { if (myArray[j] == "h") break; } //*/ } trace(getTimer() - time); // 347 // 343 On 9/19/06, Merrill, Jason <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >>>>using a for..i..in loop will always be faster. Even more then --a > -(-1) > > I'm ducking and running for cover. > > Jason Merrill > Bank of America > Learning & Organization Effectiveness - Technology Solutions > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com > To change your subscription options or search the archive: > http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders > > Brought to you by Fig Leaf Software > Premier Authorized Adobe Consulting and Training > http://www.figleaf.com > http://training.figleaf.com > _______________________________________________ Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com To change your subscription options or search the archive: http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders Brought to you by Fig Leaf Software Premier Authorized Adobe Consulting and Training http://www.figleaf.com http://training.figleaf.com _______________________________________________ Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com To change your subscription options or search the archive: http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders Brought to you by Fig Leaf Software Premier Authorized Adobe Consulting and Training http://www.figleaf.com http://training.figleaf.com
