Search in 2D Matrix in DSA Go - Build from Scratch

Search in 2D Matrix

📖 Scenario: You are working with a grid-like map represented as a 2D matrix. Each cell contains a number. You want to find if a specific number exists in this map.

🎯 Goal: Build a program that searches for a given number in a 2D matrix and prints true if found, otherwise false.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a 2D slice of integers called matrix with exact values

Create an integer variable called target to hold the number to search

Use nested for loops with variables i and j to search the matrix

Print true if target is found, else print false

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Searching in 2D grids is common in games, maps, and image processing where data is arranged in rows and columns.

💼 Career

Understanding how to traverse and search 2D data structures is essential for software developers working with matrices, tables, or grid-based data.

1

Create the 2D matrix

Create a 2D slice of integers called matrix with these exact rows and values: { {1, 3, 5}, {7, 9, 11}, {13, 15, 17} }

DSA Go

# Your code here

Hint

Use a slice of slices to create the 2D matrix with the exact numbers.

2

Set the target number

Create an integer variable called target and set it to 9

DSA Go

package main

func main() {
    matrix := [][]int{
        {1, 3, 5},
        {7, 9, 11},
        {13, 15, 17},
    }
    // Your code here
}

Hint

Just create a variable named target and assign the number 9.

3

Search the matrix for the target

Use nested for loops with variables i and j to check each element in matrix. Create a boolean variable found set to false initially. If matrix[i][j] equals target, set found to true and break both loops.

DSA Go

package main

func main() {
    matrix := [][]int{
        {1, 3, 5},
        {7, 9, 11},
        {13, 15, 17},
    }
    target := 9
    // Your code here
}

Hint

Use two loops to go through rows and columns. Use found to remember if you found the target.

4

Print the search result

Print the value of the boolean variable found using fmt.Println(found)

DSA Go

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    matrix := [][]int{
        {1, 3, 5},
        {7, 9, 11},
        {13, 15, 17},
    }
    target := 9
    found := false
    for i := 0; i < len(matrix); i++ {
        for j := 0; j < len(matrix[i]); j++ {
            if matrix[i][j] == target {
                found = true
                break
            }
        }
        if found {
            break
        }
    }
    // Your code here
}

Hint

Use fmt.Println(found) to show if the target was found.