What is the space complexity of the iterative implementation of binary search?
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the space complexity of the iterative implementation of binary search?
O(n)
O(log n)
O(1)
O(n log n)
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the space complexity of the iterative implementation of binary search?
Step 1: Understand what binary search is. It is a method to find an item in a sorted list by repeatedly dividing the search interval in half.
Step 2: Know that there are two types of implementations for binary search: iterative and recursive. We are focusing on the iterative one.
Step 3: In the iterative implementation, we use a loop to repeatedly narrow down the search range without using additional data structures.
Step 4: Identify the variables used in the iterative binary search. Typically, these include variables for the start index, end index, and the middle index.
Step 5: Recognize that the number of variables used does not grow with the size of the input list. They remain constant regardless of how many elements are in the list.
Step 6: Conclude that since the space used does not depend on the input size, the space complexity is constant.
Step 7: Therefore, the space complexity of the iterative implementation of binary search is O(1).
