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

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

Solution

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;
  }
});