Find the first copy of a duplicated target by recording matches and continuing to search the left half.

Algorithm

Basic Implementation

basic.scala
object Main {
	def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
		val arr = Array(1, 2, 4, 4, 4, 7, 9)
		val target = 4
		var lo = 0
		var hi = arr.length - 1
		var result = -1
		while (lo <= hi) {
			val mid = lo + (hi - lo) / 2
			if (arr(mid) == target) {
				result = mid
				hi = mid - 1
			} else if (arr(mid) < target) {
				lo = mid + 1
			} else {
				hi = mid - 1
			}
		}
		println(result)
	}
}

Complexity

  • Time: O(log n)
  • Space: O(1)

Implementation notes

  • Keep the explicit control flow. Library shortcuts would hide the state changes this lesson is meant to replay.
  • The final output is intentionally small and deterministic for cross-language comparison.
execution replay The checked-in replay follows the language-neutral state table for `search-binary-first`.
cross-language comparison This Scala DSA version keeps the same data and final output as every other DSA book in this wave.