What is the main advantage of using binary search over linear search?
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the main advantage of using binary search over linear search?
Binary search is easier to implement
Binary search works on unsorted arrays
Binary search is faster for large datasets
Binary search uses more memory
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the main advantage of using binary search over linear search?
Step 1: Understand what linear search is. Linear search checks each item in a list one by one until it finds the target item or reaches the end of the list.
Step 2: Understand what binary search is. Binary search works on sorted lists by repeatedly dividing the list in half to find the target item more quickly.
Step 3: Compare the time it takes for each search method. Linear search takes longer because it may check every item (O(n) time complexity), while binary search takes fewer steps by halving the list each time (O(log n) time complexity).
Step 4: Realize that for large sorted datasets, binary search is much faster than linear search because it reduces the number of items to check significantly with each step.
