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I don't understand. There are 7 suffixes, can't you pick the right one with binary search? That would be 3 comparisons. Or just do it the dumb way and have 6 comparisons. How are two log() calls, one pow() call and ceil() better than just doing it the dumb way? The bug being described is a perfect example of trying to be too clever.

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The author apparently went back to using a loop after recognizing that it's not readable: https://programming.guide/java/formatting-byte-size-to-human...

Notably, it's still slightly better than the first code example in the original article, as it takes the rounding bug into account.

The author says at the beginning that it’s not actually better than the loop.

Also 6 comparisons is only if you’d have the max value which seems unlikely in actual usage. Linear could be better if most of the time values are in B or KB ranges

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