C Fibonacci Search

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to implement Fibonacci search algorithm in C.

The Fibonacci search allows you to search a sorted array. The Fibonacci search technique uses a divide-and-conquer mechanism that helps decrease the possible locations by using Fibonacci numbers.

The following is the Fibonacci search program in C:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <limits.h>
/*
 * If val is found in arr, return the index of its location in arr.
 * Otherwise, return the index of the smallest element greater than val
 */
static int binsrch_geq(const int *arr, int n, int val)
{
    register int low, high, mid;
    int geq;

    low=0;
    high=n-1;
    geq=-1;

    /* binary search for finding the element with value val */
    while(low<=high)
    {
        mid=(low+high)>>1; //(low+high)/2;
        if(val<arr[mid])
        {
            high=mid-1;
            geq=mid;
        }
        else if(val > arr[mid])
            low=mid+1;
        else
            return mid; /* found */
    }

    return geq; /* not found */
}

/*
  Fibonaccian search for locating the index of "val" in an array "arr" of size "n"
  that is sorted in ascending order.

  Algorithm description
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Let Fk represent the k-th Fibonacci number where Fk+2=Fk+1 + Fk for k>=0 and
  F0 = 0, F1 = 1. To test whether an item is in a list of n = Fm ordered numbers,
  proceed as follows:
  a) Set k = m.
  b) If k = 0, finish - no match.
  c) Test item against entry in position Fk-1.
  d) If match, finish.
  e) If item is less than entry Fk-1, discard entries from positions Fk-1 + 1 to n.
     Set k = k - 1 and go to b).
  f) If item is greater than entry Fk-1, discard entries from positions 1 to Fk-1.
     Renumber remaining entries from 1 to Fk-2, set k = k - 2 and go to b)

  If Fm>n then the original array is augmented with Fm-n numbers larger
  than val and the above algorithm is applied.
 */

int fibsrch(const int *arr, int n, int val)
{
    register int k, idx, offs;
    static int prevn=-1, prevk=-1;

    /*  Precomputed Fibonacci numbers F0 up to F46. This implementation assumes that the size n
     *  of the input array fits in 4 bytes. Note that F46=1836311903 is the largest Fibonacci
     *  number that is less or equal to the 4-byte INT_MAX (=2147483647). The next Fibonacci
     *  number, i.e. F47, is 2971215073 and is larger than INT_MAX, implying that it does not
     *  fit in a 4 byte integer. Note also that the last array element is INT_MAX rather than
     *  F47. This ensures correct operation for n>F46.
     */
    const static int Fib[47+1]= {0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765,
                                 10946, 17711, 28657, 46368, 75025, 121393, 196418, 317811, 514229, 832040, 1346269, 2178309, 3524578,
                                 5702887, 9227465, 14930352, 24157817, 39088169, 63245986, 102334155, 165580141, 267914296,
                                 433494437, 701408733, 1134903170, 1836311903, INT_MAX
                                };

    /* find the smallest fibonacci number that is greater or equal to n. Store this
     * number to avoid recomputing it in the case of repetitive searches with identical n.
     */
    if(n!=prevn)
    {
#if 1
        k=(n>1)? binsrch_geq(Fib, sizeof(Fib)/sizeof(int), n) : 1;
#else /* the above binary search call can be substituted by the following code fragment: */
        {
            register int f0, f1, t;

            for(f0=0, f1=1, k=1; f1<n; t=f1, f1+=f0, f0=t, ++k)
                ;
        }
#endif
        prevk=k;
        prevn=n;
    }
    else k=prevk;

    /* If the sought value is larger than the largest Fibonacci number less than n,
     * care must be taken top ensure that we do not attempt to read beyond the end
     * of the array. If we do need to do this, we pretend that the array is padded
     * with elements larger than the sought value.
     */
    for(offs=0; k>0;  )
    {
        idx=offs+Fib[--k];

        /* note that at this point k  has already been decremented once */
        if(idx>=n || val<arr[idx]) // index out of bounds or val in 1st part
            continue;
        else if (val >arr[idx])  // val in 2nd part
        {
            offs=idx;
            --k;
        }
        else // val==arr[idx], found
            return idx;
    }

    return -1; // not found
}

int main()
{
    int data[]= {1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 25, 27, 30, 32, 33, 36, 39, 41, 44, 47, 51, 53, 55};
    int i, x, n;

    x = 30;
    n = sizeof(data)/sizeof(int);
    i = fibsrch(data, n, x);
    if(i>=0)
        printf("%d found at index %d\n", x, i);
    else
        printf("%d was not found\n", x);

    return 0;
}Code language: C++ (cpp)