Basic Searching Algorithms
Michael McMillan · Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2007
Searching for data is a fundamental computer programming task and one that has been studied for many years. This chapter looks at just one aspect of the search problem—searching for a given value in a list (array). There are two fundamental ways to search for data in a list: the sequential search and the binary search. Sequential search is used when the items in the list are in random order; binary search is used when the items are sorted in the list. SEQUENTIAL SEARCHING The most obvious type of search is to begin at the beginning of a set of records and move through each record until you find the record you are looking for or you come to the end of the records. This is called a sequential search . A sequential search (also called a linear search) is very easy to implement. Start at the beginning of the array and compare each accessed array element to the value you're searching for. If you find a match, the search is over. If you get to the end of the array without generating a match, then the value is not in the array.