CountOccurrences.swift

/*
  Counts the number of times a value appears in an array in O(lg n) time.
  The array must be sorted from low to high.
*/
func countOccurrencesOfKey(key: Int, inArray a: [Int]) -> Int {
  func leftBoundary() -> Int {
    var low = 0
    var high = a.count
    while low < high {
      let midIndex = low + (high - low)/2
      if a[midIndex] < key {
        low = midIndex + 1
      } else {
        high = midIndex
      }
    }
    return low
  }

  func rightBoundary() -> Int {
    var low = 0
    var high = a.count
    while low < high {
      let midIndex = low + (high - low)/2
      if a[midIndex] > key {
        high = midIndex
      } else {
        low = midIndex + 1
      }
    }
    return low
  }

  return rightBoundary() - leftBoundary()
}