Code reviewHardcr-g454

Subject Integer overflowLevel Senior–Staff~18 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

Review this C++ binary search over an index range that can include negative coordinates (e.g. a signed axis).

It is called with `lo` as low as INT_MIN and `hi` near INT_MAX.

What a strong answer looks like

Separate real bugs from style. Rank issues by severity, point at the root cause rather than the symptom, and suggest a concrete fix — specific and kind.

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Code to reviewcpp

1int search(const std::vector<int>& a, int lo, int hi, int target) {2    while (lo <= hi) {3        int mid = lo + (hi - lo) / 2;4        if (a[mid] == target) return mid;5        else if (a[mid] < target) lo = mid + 1;6        else hi = mid - 1;7    }8    return -1;9}

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