Coding Challenge Practice - Question 43

The goal is to implement a binary search function to find the element preceding the first occurrence of a target value within a sorted array of ascending numbers. The function initializes left and right pointers to define the search space within the array. A while loop iterates as long as the left pointer is less than or equal to the right pointer, calculating the middle index in each iteration. If the middle element equals the target, the index is stored, and the right pointer is adjusted to search for earlier occurrences. If the middle element is less than the target, the left pointer moves to the right; otherwise, the right pointer moves to the left. If the target isn't found, the function returns undefined, and if the target's first occurrence is at the beginning of the array, it also returns undefined. Finally, the function returns the element located immediately before the target's first appearance in the array. The algorithm efficiently locates the element before the first instance of the desired target if it exists.