indexes.ts

let num = [0,8,-2,5,0];
let val = 0;

const startAndEndOfVal = (numArr: Array<number>, val: number) => {
   let indexes = numArr.sort().reduce((acc: Array<number>, cur: number, index: number) => {
        if(cur === val){
            acc.push(index)
        }
        return acc
    }, []);

   if(indexes.length === 0) {
     return [-1, -1];
   }

   return [indexes[0], indexes[indexes.length - 1]];
}

console.log(startAndEndOfVal(num, val));

Hello @charleslukes, this is a really interesting solution. You were able to implement the merge-sort, that is amazing!

That said, do you think there's a way we could have solved this problem without having to sort the array?

I have written a blog post here sharing my solution to this problem - a solution that avoids sorting the array. Please read through and let me know what you think.

I hope this was a good learning experience for you. Thank you once again for participating once again and see you on Friday for Week 4 of #AlgorithmFridays.