Given a sorted array arr[] and a value X, find the k closest elements to X in arr[].
Examples:

Input: K = 4, X = 35
       arr[] = {12, 16, 22, 30, 35, 39, 42, 
               45, 48, 50, 53, 55, 56}
Output: 30 39 42 45

Note that if the element is present in array, then it should not be in output, only the other closest elements are required.

In the following solutions, it is assumed that all elements of array are distinct.

A simple solution is to do linear search for k closest elements.
1) Start from the first element and search for the crossover point (The point before which elements are smaller than or equal to X and after which elements are greater). This step takes O(n) time.
2) Once we find the crossover point, we can compare elements on both sides of crossover point to print k closest elements. This step takes O(k) time.

The time complexity of the above solution is O(n).

An Optimized Solution is to find k elements in O(Logn + k) time. The idea is to use Binary Search to find the crossover point. Once we find index of crossover point, we can print k closest elements in O(k) time.

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C++

c++
#include<stdio.h>

/* Function to find the cross over point (the point before
which elements are smaller than or equal to x and after
which greater than x)*/
int findCrossOver(int arr[], int low, int high, int x)
{
// Base cases
if (arr[high] <= x) // x is greater than all
return high;
if (arr[low] > x) // x is smaller than all
return low;

// Find the middle point
int mid = (low + high)/2; /* low + (high - low)/2 */

/* If x is same as middle element, then return mid */
if (arr[mid] <= x && arr[mid+1] > x)
return mid;

/* If x is greater than arr[mid], then either arr[mid + 1]
is ceiling of x or ceiling lies in arr[mid+1...high] */
if(arr[mid] < x)
return findCrossOver(arr, mid+1, high, x);

return findCrossOver(arr, low, mid - 1, x);
}

// This function prints k closest elements to x in arr[].
// n is the number of elements in arr[]
void printKclosest(int arr[], int x, int k, int n)
{
// Find the crossover point
int l = findCrossOver(arr, 0, n-1, x);
int r = l+1; // Right index to search
int count = 0; // To keep track of count of elements already printed

// If x is present in arr[], then reduce left index
// Assumption: all elements in arr[] are distinct
if (arr[l] == x) l--;

// Compare elements on left and right of crossover
// point to find the k closest elements
while (l >= 0 && r < n && count < k)
{
if (x - arr[l] < arr[r] - x)
printf("%d ", arr[l--]);
else
printf("%d ", arr[r++]);
count++;
}

// If there are no more elements on right side, then
// print left elements
while (count < k && l >= 0)
printf("%d ", arr[l--]), count++;

// If there are no more elements on left side, then
// print right elements
while (count < k && r < n)
printf("%d ", arr[r++]), count++;
}

/* Driver program to check above functions */
int main()
{
int arr[] ={12, 16, 22, 30, 35, 39, 42,
45, 48, 50, 53, 55, 56};
int n = sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]);
int x = 35, k = 4;
printKclosest(arr, x, 4, n);
return 0;
}

JAVA

java
// Java program to find k closest elements to a given value
class KClosest
{
/* Function to find the cross over point (the point before
which elements are smaller than or equal to x and after
which greater than x)*/
int findCrossOver(int arr[], int low, int high, int x)
{
// Base cases
if (arr[high] <= x) // x is greater than all
return high;
if (arr[low] > x) // x is smaller than all
return low;

// Find the middle point
int mid = (low + high)/2; /* low + (high - low)/2 */

/* If x is same as middle element, then return mid */
if (arr[mid] <= x && arr[mid+1] > x)
return mid;

/* If x is greater than arr[mid], then either arr[mid + 1]
is ceiling of x or ceiling lies in arr[mid+1...high] */
if(arr[mid] < x)
return findCrossOver(arr, mid+1, high, x);

return findCrossOver(arr, low, mid - 1, x);
}

// This function prints k closest elements to x in arr[].
// n is the number of elements in arr[]
void printKclosest(int arr[], int x, int k, int n)
{
// Find the crossover point
int l = findCrossOver(arr, 0, n-1, x);
int r = l+1; // Right index to search
int count = 0; // To keep track of count of elements
// already printed

// If x is present in arr[], then reduce left index
// Assumption: all elements in arr[] are distinct
if (arr[l] == x) l--;

// Compare elements on left and right of crossover
// point to find the k closest elements
while (l >= 0 && r < n && count < k)
{
if (x - arr[l] < arr[r] - x)
System.out.print(arr[l--]+" ");
else
System.out.print(arr[r++]+" ");
count++;
}

// If there are no more elements on right side, then
// print left elements
while (count < k && l >= 0)
{
System.out.print(arr[l--]+" ");
count++;
}


// If there are no more elements on left side, then
// print right elements
while (count < k && r < n)
{
System.out.print(arr[r++]+" ");
count++;
}
}

/* Driver program to check above functions */
public static void main(String args[])
{
KClosest ob = new KClosest();
int arr[] = {12, 16, 22, 30, 35, 39, 42,
45, 48, 50, 53, 55, 56
};
int n = arr.length;
int x = 35, k = 4;
ob.printKclosest(arr, x, 4, n);
}
}

Output:

39 30 42 45

The time complexity of this method is O(Logn + k).

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