javascript - JS: unsure why function is returning

Question

Really novice question but why is my function returning with -1? The function does have a match so why is the function returning -1 instead of the index value. If I remove the else statement it returns with the correct out output.

let array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9];
let target = 5;

function search() {
  for (let i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
    if (array[i] === target) {
      console.log(true);
      return array.indexOf(array[i]);
    } else {
      console.log(false);
      return -1;
    }
  }
}

search();

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65860387/js-unsure-why-function-is-returning

Answer 1

You are checking the first element (index i = 0) against the target. If they don't match, you call return -1. return immediately exists the function. You probably want to place your return after the loop.

let array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9];
let target = 5;

function search() {
  for (let i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
    if (array[i] === target) {
      console.log(true);
      return i;
    } 
  }

  console.log(false);
  return -1;

}

search();

Furhtermore it's not necessary to do array.indexOf inside the loop, because if array[i] == target you already have the correct index i