Find the closest time from a list of times

Question

So, here\'s the scenario. I have a file with a created time, and I want to choose a time from a list of times that that file\'s created time is closest or equal too...what w

Answer 1

How often will you be doing this with the same list of times? If you're only doing it once, the fastest way is probably to just scan through the list and keep track of the closest time you've seen yet. When/if you encounter a time that's closer, replace the "closest" with that closer time.

If you're doing it very often, you'd probably want to sort the list, then use a binary search.