Arrayfind

Arrayfind is a term used to describe techniques for locating elements within an array. In its broad sense, it denotes methods that identify the positions of elements that meet a given condition, either returning a single index or a collection of indices.

Variants of Arrayfind include value-based searches, predicate-based searches, and range queries in sorted arrays. A simple implementation performs a linear scan, evaluating each element against the specified condition. More advanced variants may stop after the first match, or accumulate all matching indices.

Performance depends on data layout. For unsorted arrays, the straightforward approach runs in linear time, O(n). If the array is static or frequently queried, preprocessing such as building a map from values to indices can convert repeated queries to near-constant time per query for exact-value matches. In sorted arrays, binary search can locate a single match in O(log n), and search by range can be performed efficiently with pointers or indices.

Applications include data filtering, feature extraction, and quick lookups in small to medium data sets. Arrayfind can serve as a building block for higher-level query systems and data processing pipelines.

In common programming languages, similar functionality is provided by built-in operations such as indexOf, find, or filter. Arrayfind, as described here, refers to the general concept rather than a specific function or standard library named exactly that term.

The term Arrayfind is not tied to a single, standardized implementation and may appear in educational materials to illustrate array-search strategies.