Question

using jquery, how would i find the closest match in an array, to a specified number

For example, you've got an array like this:

1, 3, 8, 10, 13, ...

What number is closest to 4?

4 would return 3
2 would return 3
5 would return 3
6 would return 8

ive seen this done in many different languages, but not in jquery, is this possible to do simply

Answer 1

You can use the jQuery.each method to loop the array, other than that it's just plain Javascript. Something like:

var theArray = [ 1, 3, 8, 10, 13 ];
var goal = 4;
var closest = null;

$.each(theArray, function(){
  if (closest == null || Math.abs(this - goal) < Math.abs(closest - goal)) {
    closest = this;
  }
});