Ternary Search in Sorted Arrays in C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <limits.h>
#include <errno.h>
// Ternary Search in Sorted Arrays in C
//
// PURPOSE
// Ternary search compares two interior positions to discard two thirds of a sorted interval.
//
// METHOD
// Compute two partition positions. Return a matching position, otherwise retain the left,
// middle, or right third containing the target.
//
// COMPLEXITY
// O(log n) time, O(1) space. Binary search generally uses fewer comparisons; this is
// distinct from optimization on unimodal functions.
//
// CONTRACT
// Ascending input; returns any matching index or -1.
// Public APIs infer array lengths except in C, which accepts pointer/length pairs. Vertex
// counts and matrix dimensions remain explicit. Arrays must contain signed 32-bit integers.
// Sorted order, correct tree topology, and caller-owned data-structure invariants are
// preconditions; checking them on every query would change query complexity.
// Scalar and shape checks are included. Value-range checks are included where needed to
// prevent invalid indexing or nontermination. Allocation sizes are capped at 4,000,000
// workspace entries. Arithmetic outside Python raises an error on 32-bit overflow; Python
// uses arbitrary precision. Native allocation failures propagate. In-place outputs may be
// partly updated after arithmetic failure. These are single-threaded, in-memory
// implementations.
//
// LANGUAGE DETAILS
// C99: checked calloc/free workspace, const input pointers, explicit size_t lengths. Errors
// return INT_MIN with errno=EINVAL, ERANGE, or ENOMEM. Check errno before using a result.
// Input/output arrays must not alias. No variable-length stack arrays.
//
// EXAMPLE
// Expected return: 2.
// Run: gcc -std=c99 -O2 example.c -o example && ./example
// Tests for this exact source artifact run before publication. The accompanying source
// archive includes unit cases, runtime results, and source hashes.

static int alg_min(int a, int b) { return a < b ? a : b; }
static int alg_max(int a, int b) { return a > b ? a : b; }
static int alg_checked(int64_t v, int *error) {
    if (v < INT_MIN || v > INT_MAX) { *error = 1; return 0; }
    return (int)v;
}
static int alg_add(int a, int b, int *e) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a+b,e); }
static int alg_sub(int a, int b, int *e) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a-b,e); }
static int alg_mul(int a, int b, int *e) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a*b,e); }

int ternary_search(const int *a, size_t a_length, int target) {
    int alg_error = 0;
    int alg_result = INT_MIN;
    errno = 0;
    if (a_length > 1000000 || (a_length && !a)) { errno = EINVAL; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int n = (int)a_length;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (!(((n >= 0) && (n <= 1000000)))) { errno = EINVAL; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (!(((int)a_length == n))) { errno = EINVAL; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int low = 0;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int high = alg_sub(n, 1, &alg_error);
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int third = 0;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int first = 0;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int second = 0;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    while (1) {
        int alg_condition = (low <= high);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        if (!alg_condition) break;
        third = (alg_sub(high, low, &alg_error) / 3);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        first = alg_add(low, third, &alg_error);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        second = alg_sub(high, third, &alg_error);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        int alg_condition_1 = (a[first] == target);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        if (alg_condition_1) {
            alg_result = first;
            if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
            goto alg_cleanup;
        }
        int alg_condition_2 = (a[second] == target);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        if (alg_condition_2) {
            alg_result = second;
            if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
            goto alg_cleanup;
        }
        int alg_condition_3 = (target < a[first]);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        if (alg_condition_3) {
            high = alg_sub(first, 1, &alg_error);
            if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        } else {
            int alg_condition_4 = (target > a[second]);
            if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
            if (alg_condition_4) {
                low = alg_add(second, 1, &alg_error);
                if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
            } else {
                low = alg_add(first, 1, &alg_error);
                if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
                high = alg_sub(second, 1, &alg_error);
                if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
            }
        }
    }
    alg_result = alg_sub(0, 1, &alg_error);
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    goto alg_cleanup;
alg_cleanup:
    return alg_result;
}

int main(void) {
    int a[] = {1, 3, 5, 7};
    int target = 5;
    int result = ternary_search(a, 4, target);
    printf("%d\n", result);
    if (errno) { perror("algorithm"); return 1; }
    return 0;
}