Python Bisect: Find the first occurrence of a given number in a sorted list using Binary Search

Last update on May 28 2022 13:32:03 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Python Bisect: Exercise-4 with Solution

Write a Python program to find the first occurrence of a given number in a sorted list using Binary Search (bisect).

Sample Solution:

Python Code:

from bisect import bisect_left   
def Binary_Search(a, x): 
    i = bisect_left(a, x) 
    if i != len(a) and a[i] == x: 
        return i 
    else: 
        return -1

nums = [1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 8, 10, 12] 
x = 8 
num_position = Binary_Search(nums, x) 
if num_position == -1: 
    print(x, "is not present.") 
else: 
    print("First occurrence of", x, "is present at index", num_position)

Sample Output:

First occurrence of 8 is present at index 4

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Next: Write a Python program to find the index position of the largest value smaller than a given number in a sorted list using Binary Search (bisect).

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Python: Tips of the Day

Find current directory and file's directory:

To get the full path to the directory a Python file is contained in, write this in that file:

import os 
dir_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))

(Note that the incantation above won't work if you've already used os.chdir() to change your current working directory, since the value of the __file__ constant is relative to the current working directory and is not changed by an os.chdir() call.)

To get the current working directory use

import os
cwd = os.getcwd()

Documentation references for the modules, constants and functions used above:

The os and os.path modules.
The __file__ constant
os.path.realpath(path) (returns "the canonical path of the specified filename, eliminating any symbolic links encountered in the path")
os.path.dirname(path) (returns "the directory name of pathname path")
os.getcwd() (returns "a string representing the current working directory")
os.chdir(path) ("change the current working directory to path")

Ref: https://bit.ly/3fy0R6m