Updated LinearSearch.java

Converted integer linear search to a generic linear search and added faster input method

Author: varunu28

Searches/LinearSearch.java

@@ -1,62 +1,77 @@
-import java.util.Scanner;
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Varun Upadhyay (https://github.com/varunu28)
+ *
+ */
 
 public class LinearSearch{
-	/**
-	 * The main method
-	 * @param args Command line arguments
-	 */
-	public static void main(String[] args){
-
-		Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
-		int[] myArray;
-		int size = 0;
-
-		//Prompt user to create array and its elements
-		System.out.print("Enter the array size: ");
-		size = input.nextInt();
-		myArray = new int[size];
-		for (int i = 0; i < size; i++){
-			System.out.print("For index " + i + ", enter an integer: ");
-			myArray[i] = input.nextInt();
-		}
-
-		//Prompt user to search for particular element
-		System.out.print("Enter integer to search for: ");
-		int key = input.nextInt();
-
-		//Output array and index of target element, if found
-		printarray(myArray);
-		System.out.printf("The integer %d is found in index %d\n", key, linearsearch(myArray, key));
-		
-		input.close();
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Linear search method
-	 * 
-	 * @param list List to be searched
-	 * @param key Key being searched for
-	 * @return Location of the key
-	 */
-	public static int linearsearch(int[] list, int key){
-
-		for (int i = 0; i< list.length; i++){
-			if (list[i] == key){
-				return i;
-			}
-				
-		} return -1;	
-	}
-	/**
-	 * Helper Method
-	 * 
-	 * @param a array to be printed
-	 */
-	public static void printarray(int[] a){
-		System.out.print("The array is: ");
-		for( int d: a){
-			System.out.print(d+" ");
-		}
-		System.out.println();
-	}
+    /**
+     * The main method
+     * @param args Command line arguments
+     */
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+
+        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
+
+        // Test for Integer inputs
+        Integer[] myArray;
+        int size = 0;
+
+        //Prompt user to create array and its elements
+        System.out.print("Enter the array size: ");
+        size = Integer.parseInt(br.readLine());
+        myArray = new Integer[size];
+        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++){
+            System.out.print("For index " + i + ", enter an integer: ");
+            myArray[i] = Integer.parseInt(br.readLine());
+        }
+
+        //Prompt user to search for particular element
+        System.out.print("Enter integer to search for: ");
+        Integer key = Integer.parseInt(br.readLine());
+
+        //Output array and index of target element, if found
+        System.out.printf("The integer %d is found in index %d\n", key, linearSearch(myArray, key));
+
+        // Test for String inputs
+        String[] myArray1;
+        int size1 = 0;
+
+        //Prompt user to create array and its elements
+        System.out.print("Enter the array size: ");
+        size1 = Integer.parseInt(br.readLine());
+        myArray1 = new String[size];
+        for (int i = 0; i < size1; i++){
+            System.out.print("For index " + i + ", enter a String: ");
+            myArray1[i] = br.readLine();
+        }
+
+        //Prompt user to search for particular element
+        System.out.print("Enter String to search for: ");
+        String key1 = br.readLine();
+
+        //Output array and index of target element, if found
+        System.out.printf("The string %s is found in index %d\n", key1, linearSearch(myArray1, key1));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Generic Linear search method
+     *
+     * @param array List to be searched
+     * @param value Key being searched for
+     * @return Location of the key
+     */
+    public static <T extends Comparable<T>> int linearSearch(T[] array, T value) {
+        int lo = 0;
+        int hi = array.length - 1;
+        for (int i = lo; i <= hi; i++) {
+            if (array[i].compareTo(value) == 0) {
+                return i;
+            }
+        }
+        return -1;
+    }
 }