# Why does "Doesn't exist" always print?
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427
**Category:** New to Julia
**Created:** [April 26, 2025, 8:16am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427 "2025-04-26T08:16:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@hack3rcon](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hack3rcon)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2025, 8:16am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427/1 "2025-04-26T08:16:06Z")
Hello,
Please take a look at the following code:
```julia
function search()
array = [1,2,3,4,5]
low = 0
high = 0
while true
print("Please enter two numbers for Low and high index: ")
low, high = parse.(Int, split(readline()))
if (low <=0) || (high > length(array))
println("Wrong range.")
else
break
end
end
print("Please enter a number to check if it exists: ")
n = parse.(Int, readline())
flag = 0
for i = low : high
if n == array[i]
println("Exist.")
break
else
flag += 1
end
end
if flag > 0
println("Doesn't exist.")
end
end
search()
```
Why does `Doesn't exist` always print?
Thank you.
---
### Author:  [@SteffenPL](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/SteffenPL)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2025, 8:34am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427/2 "2025-04-26T08:34:42Z")
If you enter `low = 1, high = 5` and `n = 1` then it doesn’t show the `Doesn't exist.` message.
The issue is that `flag` is increased whenever the first entry is not equal to `n`. Instead you might want to change the logic for example like
```julia
found = false
for i = low : high
if n == array[i]
println("Exist.")
found = true
break
end
end
if !found
println("Doesn't exist.")
end
```
---
### Author:  [@bertschi](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/bertschi)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2025, 8:47am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427/3 "2025-04-26T08:47:08Z")
Or just use something like
```julia
println(isnothing(findfirst(==(n), @view array[low:high])) ? "Doesn't exist" : "Exist.")
```
which imho is easier to get correct … the one-liner is just for fun though, e.g., multi-line `if` might be clearer.
---
### Author:  [@Benny](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Benny)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2025, 9:40am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427/4 "2025-04-26T09:40:02Z")
Putting the fixed bug aside,
1. You don’t need to broadcast over scalars, `n = parse(Int, readline())` is enough.
2. Why are you hard-coding the `array` values and taking `low, high, n` from separated `readline()` calls instead of easier arguments for the `search()` call?
---
### Author:  [@hack3rcon](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hack3rcon)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2025, 10:44am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427/5 "2025-04-26T10:44:39Z")
Hello,
Thank you so much for your reply.
I found another way:
```julia
flag = 0
for i = low : high
if n == array[i]
println("Exist.")
flag = 0
break
else
flag +=1
end
end
if flag > 0
println("Doesn't exist.")
end
```
---
### Author:  [@hack3rcon](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hack3rcon)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2025, 10:46am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427/6 "2025-04-26T10:46:45Z")
Hello,
Do you mean the `search()` function with input arguments?
---
### Author:  [@Benny](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Benny)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427/7 "2025-04-26T20:06:57Z")
yes
---
### Author:  [@SteffenPL](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/SteffenPL)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2025, 4:29am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427/8 "2025-04-27T04:29:35Z")
Mh, there is the potential edge case of an empty range, such as `low = 2, high = 1, n = 10`. Here your code doesn’t print anything, whereas you might either add a check `low < high` or print `Doesn't exists.`
---
### Author:  [@hack3rcon](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hack3rcon)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2025, 5:31am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-does-doesnt-exist-always-print/128427/9 "2025-04-27T05:31:32Z")
Hi,
Great advice.