How to find the closest value out of a set?

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

Is there any straightforward way to do this, for example if I had the number 12.345 and needed to find which number out of 23.456, 1.234 or 5.678 was closest?

Any help would be appreciated.

#2

Would you want it to find the greatest number or smallest?

Thanks

#3

Not the greatest or smallest, the closest to a specified number. I know that you can use math.floor() for smallest, but I was just wondering if there’s a method for getting the closest number.

#4

If your numbers aren’t sorted, you’ll have to go through the entire list to check. Here’s some code.

local numbers = {23.456, 1.234, 5.678} -- List of numbers to check local targetNumber = 12.345 -- Target number local minDiff = math.huge local closest = 0 for i = 1, #numbers do local diff = math.abs(targetNumber - numbers[i]) -- Find the difference between target and this one if diff \< minDiff then -- If it's closer than our current closest... minDiff = diff -- ...set the new closest difference... closest = numbers[i] -- ...and set the closest number to this one end end print("The closest number to " .. targetNumber .. " is " .. closest)
  • Caleb
#5

Would you want it to find the greatest number or smallest?

Thanks

#6

Not the greatest or smallest, the closest to a specified number. I know that you can use math.floor() for smallest, but I was just wondering if there’s a method for getting the closest number.

#7

If your numbers aren’t sorted, you’ll have to go through the entire list to check. Here’s some code.

local numbers = {23.456, 1.234, 5.678} -- List of numbers to check local targetNumber = 12.345 -- Target number local minDiff = math.huge local closest = 0 for i = 1, #numbers do local diff = math.abs(targetNumber - numbers[i]) -- Find the difference between target and this one if diff \< minDiff then -- If it's closer than our current closest... minDiff = diff -- ...set the new closest difference... closest = numbers[i] -- ...and set the closest number to this one end end print("The closest number to " .. targetNumber .. " is " .. closest)
  • Caleb