What is the main advantage of binary search over linear search?
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the main advantage of binary search over linear search?
It is easier to implement
It works on unsorted arrays
It has a better time complexity
It requires less memory
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the main advantage of binary search over linear search?
Step 1: Understand what linear search is. Linear search checks each element in a list one by one until it finds the target value or reaches the end of the list.
Step 2: Know the time complexity of linear search. The time complexity of linear search is O(n), which means if there are 'n' elements, it may take up to 'n' checks to find the target.
Step 3: Understand what binary search is. Binary search works on sorted lists by repeatedly dividing the list in half to find the target value.
Step 4: Know the time complexity of binary search. The time complexity of binary search is O(log n), which means it takes much fewer checks as the number of elements increases.
Step 5: Compare the two. O(log n) (binary search) is much faster than O(n) (linear search) for large lists, making binary search more efficient.
