binarysearch in Arrays returning -ve value for an existing key

[adurga]

Hi,

For the below code, the key "why" does not exist hence -1 justified but for the key "java" why -3 is being given as the output?

import java.util.Arrays;
public class Test3 {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		String[] arr1 = { "java", "champ", "you" };
		System.out.println(Arrays.binarySearch(arr1, "java"));
		System.out.println(Arrays.binarySearch(arr1, "you"));
		System.out.println(Arrays.binarySearch(arr1, "Why"));
	}
}
Output is
-3
2
-1

[Tolls]

From the API:
"The array must be sorted into ascending order according to the natural ordering of its elements (as by the sort(Object[]) method) prior to making this call. If it is not sorted, the results are undefined."

Your array is not sorted.