What is the average time complexity for searching an element in a stack?
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the average time complexity for searching an element in a stack?
O(1)
O(n)
O(log n)
O(n^2)
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the average time complexity for searching an element in a stack?
Step 1: Understand what a stack is. A stack is a data structure that follows the Last In, First Out (LIFO) principle, meaning the last element added is the first one to be removed.
Step 2: Know that to search for an element in a stack, you have to look at each element one by one, starting from the top of the stack.
Step 3: Realize that in the worst-case scenario, you might have to check every single element in the stack to find the one you are looking for.
Step 4: Since the number of elements you might need to check can be up to 'n' (where 'n' is the total number of elements in the stack), the time it takes to search is proportional to 'n'.
Step 5: Therefore, the average time complexity for searching an element in a stack is O(n).
