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Mostafa Shariare
Mostafa Shariare

Posted on β€’ Edited on

πŸš€ Why Choose Binary Search Over Linear Search?

When searching through a list, you might wonder why we sometimes prefer binary search over the simpler linear search. Here's a quick breakdown with a real-world example:

πŸ” Linear Search:

  • How it works: Checks each element one by one.

  • Best use case: When the data is unsorted or small.

  • Time complexity: O(n) β€” as the list grows, the search time increases proportionally.

⚑ Binary Search:

  • How it works: Efficiently narrows down the search by repeatedly dividing the list in half.

  • Best use case: When the data is sorted.

  • Time complexity: O(log n) β€” even with large datasets, the search time grows slowly.

πŸ’‘Example: Imagine you have an array with 2 million elements.

  • Linear Search: In the worst case, you might have to check every element, making it take up to 2 million steps.

  • Binary Search: Since binary search splits the list in half each time, it would only take about 21 steps (logβ‚‚(2,000,000) β‰ˆ 21) to find the element, even in the worst case!

Happy coding! ✨

programming #algorithms #datastructures #binarysearch #linearsearch #optimization #tech

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Billboard image

The Next Generation Developer Platform

Coherence is the first Platform-as-a-Service you can control. Unlike "black-box" platforms that are opinionated about the infra you can deploy, Coherence is powered by CNC, the open-source IaC framework, which offers limitless customization.

Learn more

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