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In computer science, linear search or sequential search is a method for finding an element within a list. It sequentially checks each element of the list until a match is found or the whole list has been searched. [1] A linear search runs in linear time in the worst case, and makes at most n comparisons, where n is the length of
Locating the desired item in such a list, by the linear search method, inevitably requires a number of operations proportional to the number n of items, in the worst case as well as in the average case. Useful search data structures allow faster retrieval; however, they are limited to queries of some specific kind.
C language example This example in C uses two tables, the first (CT1) is a simple linear search one-dimensional lookup table – to obtain an index by matching the input (x), and the second, associated table (CT1p), is a table of addresses of labels to jump to.
Finding an item in a sorted array with a binary search or a balanced search tree as well as all operations in a Binomial heap. linear: Finding an item in an unsorted list or a malformed tree (worst case) or in an unsorted array; Adding two n-bit integers by ripple carry. ()
Linear search: locates an item in an unsorted sequence; Selection algorithm: finds the kth largest item in a sequence; Ternary search: a technique for finding the minimum or maximum of a function that is either strictly increasing and then strictly decreasing or vice versa; Sorted lists. Binary search algorithm: locates an item in a sorted sequence
Specific applications of search algorithms include: Problems in combinatorial optimization, such as: . The vehicle routing problem, a form of shortest path problem; The knapsack problem: Given a set of items, each with a weight and a value, determine the number of each item to include in a collection so that the total weight is less than or equal to a given limit and the total value is as ...
Finding a specific element in a linked list, even if it is sorted, normally requires O(n) time (linear search). This is one of the primary disadvantages of linked lists over other data structures. In addition to the variants discussed above, below are two simple ways to improve search time.
The algorithm divides the input list into two parts: a sorted sublist of items which is built up from left to right at the front (left) of the list and a sublist of the remaining unsorted items that occupy the rest of the list. Initially, the sorted sublist is empty and the unsorted sublist is the entire input list.