An easy one this!

Just to say I find the docs for List.binaryFind() a tad confusing, especially when compared to List.binarySearch().

The binaryFind() docs start off by saying:

Find an element in the list using a binary search algorithm.

So I thought perhaps it returns the list item, kind of like find() vs index(). But nope, binaryFind() returns an Int same as binarySearch().

They both do similar things and I'm not sure why I would use binaryFind() over binarySearch().

So I thought perhaps it returns the list item, kind of like find() vs index(). But nope, binaryFind() returns an Int same as binarySearch().

Actually your first thought is correct. binarySearch is used when the values themselves are the key - you are passing one of the values in the list to lookup its index. The list is ordered by the values themselves.

Where as binaryFind is just like find except it uses a binary search based on the fact that you have the values sorted by some "other" key value

So for practical purposes binarySearch works just like index except is a binary search versus a linear search (instances are key). And binaryFind works just like find excepts is a binary search versus linear (func determines key). In retrospect it might have been nice to keep naming consistent, but not sure I would make a breaking change for that

Cool, thanks for the explanation. The bit that made the difference clear was:

binarySearch(): the list is ordered by the values themselves

binaryFind(): the values sorted by some "other" key value