What is the worst-case scenario for the number of iterations in binary search?
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the worst-case scenario for the number of iterations in binary search?
O(n)
O(log n)
O(n log n)
O(1)
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the worst-case scenario for the number of iterations in binary search?
Step 1: Understand what binary search is. It is a method used to find a specific value in a sorted list by repeatedly dividing the search interval in half.
Step 2: Know that binary search starts with the entire list and checks the middle element.
Step 3: If the middle element is the target value, the search is complete.
Step 4: If the target value is less than the middle element, the search continues in the left half of the list.
Step 5: If the target value is greater than the middle element, the search continues in the right half of the list.
Step 6: Each time you check the middle element, you reduce the number of elements to search by half.
Step 7: The worst-case scenario occurs when you have to keep halving the list until you find the target or determine it is not present.
Step 8: The number of times you can halve a list of size n is log base 2 of n, which is written as log(n).
Step 9: Therefore, the worst-case scenario for the number of iterations in binary search is O(log n).
